The management of academic supervision in the More Doctors for Brazil Project by higher education institutions

Abstract

The More Doctors Program is a strategic set of actions for the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) aiming at improvements in medical education, professional qualification and retention of doctors in unassisted areas. Among these actions, we highlight the Project More Doctors for Brazil (PMMB), responsible for the emergency supply of doctors. It was conceived as a response to the shortage of professionals in primary care across the country, an extremely important aspect in this set of strategies for SUS. The professional improvement proposed by PMMB has mobilized public higher education institutions to participate as supervisory institutions. They are responsible for supervising the activities developed by doctors and for strengthening the continuing education policy through teaching-service integration actions. This article aims to report on the experience of managing academic supervision in light of the challenge of the implementation of PMMB.

Percepções acerca do Programa Mais Médicos e do Processo de Supervisão Acadêmica

“…A positive perception of academic supervision was observed, as a formative process that uses the dialogical approach to carry out the synthesis between theory and practice, allowing a reflective praxis, which makes it possible to improve the performance in PHC. The power of supervision lies in stimulating the search for new knowledge 31,32 through problematizations, based on the concrete reality 16,17 , which presents increasing complexity in PHC due to the deterioration of the population' s quality of life in recent years as a result of the economic recession 33 .…”

“…The supervision has been used as a support strategy in several countries with remote areas, aiming to assist doctors in making the most timely and correct decisions [15][16][17] . However, its introduction in PHC practices requires a change in professional culture, with greater appreciation of this type of support since the academic training of doctors 14 .…”

“…Supervision has been adopted for different purposes and strategies by other countries as support for doctors working in remote and vulnerable areas, achieving satisfactory results in the technical improvement of care, in reducing the professionals' feeling of isolation, and certainly in strengthening permanent education 13,14 . And in Brazil, within the scope of the PMM, it was implemented as support for the doctors, aiming at improving the Primary Health Care (PHC) work and management process [15][16][17] .…”