Brasília, April 23, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - Medical students who studied in Cuban universities should soon be able to have their diplomas recognized as valid for the exercise of the profession here in Brazil. A commission comprising five Cuban specialists met yesterday (22) with representatives of the Secretariat of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education (Sesu/MEC) to discuss mutual recognition of diplomas.
Last year, during a trip by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to Cuba, protocols of intention were signed in the areas of technical and scientific cooperation and the endorsement of diplomas. Then, early this year, the Brazilian team visited the principal Cuban schools of medicine, to assess the conditions for validating the degrees.
"The team was in the capital, Havana, and at the universities of Santa Clara and Cientuegos (cities in the interior), to check on the progress of the courses, mass medical care, and hospitals and walk-in clinics," disclosed the head of Sesu's Division of International Affairs, Professor Arsênio Becker.
According to Becker, Cuban medical training is, from early on, integrated with health care, and students begin their internship right away in the first year of medical school. The Brazilian model is different, divided into two parts: an academic phase and another one, close to graduation, for internship. "Training in Cuba, different from ours, is integrated with medical assistance," he said.
Despite the existence of two different models of apprenticeship, for Cuba's First Secretary of Technical and Scientific Collaboration in Health, Filisberto Perez , the two countries can accept each other's diplomas without drawbacks. "Evidently we shall not allow poor physicians to practice in our country, just as it is fundamental for Brazil make sure that Cuban students submit to an evaluation here," Perez affirmed.
During their sojourn in Brazil, the Cuban specialists visited installations of the Paulista School of Medicine that are part of the University of São Paulo (USP) in São Paulo and in the city of Marília, in the interior of the state. Today the group will visit the University of Brasília and the Ministry of Health to examine the facilities.
AUTOMATIC ACCREDITATION
Professor Becker recalled that the government's intention is to evaluate the students who come from Cuba by means of a specific test. Currently, in order to obtain certification, would-be graduates must undergo a rigorous evaluation until their professional registration is granted. For the Cubans, the examination would be less complicated. "We are not talking about automatic acceptance, but rather a special model for recognizing the Cuban diploma, unlike the one traditionally adopted by universities," he explained.
The MEC is also studying the possibility of restricting the application of automatic accreditation to students trained at the Latin American School of Medical Sciences, which is also located in Cuba and will graduate its first class in 2005. At present, there are about 550 Brazilians studying medicine in Cuba and another 180 who have already graduated but are unable to practice medicine.
According to Professor Becker, the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM), which was initially opposed to accepting the diplomas, participated in various meetings with the MEC and concurred with the application of a national examination for holders of Cuban diplomas.
Translator: David Silberstein
