The president of ANEM, Paulo Simões Peres, highlighted the proposal from the working group on medical education, appointed by the previous government, which aims to estimate the training needs in Medicine in Portugal over the next decade. This proposal suggests an annual increase of “1% or 2%”.
“In the last six years, we’ve exceeded this recommendation significantly. Thus, we believe these data should be utilized to effectively plan for the future structure of the SNS [National Health Service] in 6 to 13 years,” he stated.
In medical courses, which remain among those with the highest entry averages, 1,647 students were admitted.
A student from the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto noted that “there is practically an annual increase in the number of available spots”.
“We see this as particularly concerning because medical education isn’t limited to the classroom. Like other health courses, it involves patient interaction and collaboration with other healthcare professionals, being present in hospitals, family health units, and health centers,” the student remarked.
Paulo Simões Peres emphasized that there’s also “an ethical implication for the patients” beyond the shortage of tutors, and that “increasing the number of slots isn’t the solution to the issues facing the SNS”.
“This won’t be the remedy that solves the problems in the SNS. What we advocate for, above all, is planning, short-term, medium-term, and long-term, for health professionals at the national level, extending beyond the SNS. It must encompass the entire healthcare system to understand how many doctors we have,” he highlighted.
The president of ANEM pointed out that Portugal has healthcare professionals above the OECD average and that it’s crucial to understand the types of contracts with the SNS, private, and social sectors to then plan accordingly. Portugal has 5.6 doctors per 1,000 inhabitants, 1.9 more than the OECD average.
“The more students per teacher, the more the quality of education will deteriorate. This is significant in clinical teaching, usually during the final years of the course when students work with a tutor. In some instances, there are more than 15 students, which is unsustainable. A tutor handling 15 students cannot ensure high-quality training,” he stressed.
In addition to reducing places, ANEM called for a “highly specialized” faculty and specific conditions in medical schools.
“We have over 10 medical schools in Portugal, and these schools cover a broad geographical area. This already happens in some cases, with faculties having hospital affiliations outside the city where the school is based,” he noted, adding that it “would be more beneficial” to distribute students across the “various hospital affiliations”.
The director cited examples such as the University of Minho, which “offers internships in Braga, Guimarães, and Viana do Castelo,” and the FMUP, which “also manages internships in various hospital affiliations, like in Gaia.”
“It’s necessary to have appropriate logistical conditions for students to conduct their internships, particularly regarding accommodation, transportation, and meals. Typically, hospital meals are more expensive than the social meal provided by higher education institutions,” he stated.
