Residencies In Family Medicine Have 70% of Vacant Seats
While the government expanded residency programs to help fill positions in the "More Doctors" program, Brazilian medical students are not attracted to primary care and disease prevention
Dec.3.2018 11:51AM
Natália Cancian
BRASÍLIA
One of the main features of the "Mais Médicos" (More Doctors) program to attract more physicians to public clinics, Family and Community Medicine residency programs currently have almost 70% of vacant seats.
In the last five years, the number of residency seats for the specialty increased by over 260% - from 991 to 3,587. Family Medicine's main goal is to offer primary care and prevent diseases in a community.
Still, government data show that the interest in the specialty is still low. In 2018, from 3,587 seats available for family medicine residents, only 1,183, around one-third of the total, were filled.
People familiar with the matter say the low wages cause the little interest in the specialty, which is worsened by the lack of proper career tracks in primary care. It was the shortage of family medicine specialists that had the "Mais Médicos" program searching a partnership to bring Cuban doctors to Brazil.
More:
https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/internacional/en/scienceandhealth/2018/12/residencies-in-family-medicine-have-70-of-vacant-seats.shtml
