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Health systems in transition
Portugal
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4.2.4 Training of health personnel
Doctors
There are currently eight medical schools in Portugal (two in Lisbon, two in
Oporto, one in Coimbra, one in Braga, one in Covilhã and one in Algarve).
Medical training programmes at the medical schools of Lisbon, Oporto and
Coimbra follow the same curriculum and, since the Bologna Process, are
divided into two cycles of 3 years each, leading to a Master’s degree: a core
programme covering the basic sciences and a clinical programme based on
practice and specialized procedures. The two medical schools (opened in 1998)
in Braga and Covilhã are developing innovative educational programmes
characterized by problem-oriented lectures favouring a tutorial system,
promotion of training that is closer to the communities and less hospital-
focused, and with more multidisciplinary integration. In 2008, the first Master’s
in Medicine was created in the University of Algarve, exclusively for people
who have graduated in other areas and want to pursue a medical education. This
Master’s degree differs from the previous programmes as it targets those who
have already graduated, being more practical and based on problem-solving
lectures. The length of the degree is 4 years, whereas the other faculties have
a 6-year programme.
In 2007, the Ministry of Health approved a law that regulated the creation
of vacancies in Portuguese medical schools for applicants with a previous
university degree (Decree-Law No. 40/2007, of 20 February 2007). This
Decree-Law recognized that the scientific background of clinical practice and
biomedical research was becoming more and more based on sciences not only
physics, mathematics and biology, but also social sciences. For that reason, it
was considered justifiable to widen the vacancies in medicine to candidates who
had skills in these areas of knowledge. The existing medical schools were given
the freedom to define the areas of knowledge of the prospective candidates, as
well as the admission criteria by the Decree-Law No. 40/2007, of 20 February
2007. Between 2007 and 2011, each medical school was required to open at least
5% of the total vacancies for graduate applicants and, after 2011, 15%.
After concluding the medical degree, all graduates enrol in a national tender
to pursue postgraduate medical training in the NHS. The government, through
ACSS, is jointly responsible with the Portuguese Medical Association for the
accreditation and certification of specialist training for medical graduates.
That includes a national examination, which comprises 100 multiple-choice
questions covering the digestive system, blood diseases, cardiology, nephrology
and the respiratory system. After that examination (that usually takes place