Government has determined that private institutions cannot offer more than 240 vacancies per year; objective is to “ensure the quality of medical education”
O Ministry of Education published last Monday (September 4, 2023) an ordinance that establishes rules for the expansion of vacancies in medical courses in private institutions in the country. The objective, according to the government, is “ensure the quality of medical education in Brazil”. Here’s the full of the ordinance (PDF – 109 kB).
The folder considers criteria such as the public service structure in each municipality where the institution is located and the Enade (National Student Performance Examination) score. According to the new rules, colleges may ask for an increase of up to 30% of places already authorized for the course, as long as they do not exceed the total of 240 places per year.
The new rule also establishes that, in order to request an increase in vacancies, institutions cannot face, in the last 3 years, any penalty and courses cannot have any institutional supervision measure. MEC conditioned the expansion of vacancies to the “proof of the social demand of the course”.
Conditions do not apply to public universities, which may have preference in the allocation of the structure of public equipment and university hospitals available.
The ordinance is another step in regulating the expansion of vacancies in medical courses. On April 6, the MEC authorized, after 5 years, the opening of new vacancies, provided that the expansion is done through public calls.
In 2018, the government Michel Temer (MDB) suspended the opening of new medical courses for a period of 5 years. The ordinance with the prohibition has expired on Wednesday (5.Apr).
In the 5 years of prohibition, hundreds of lawsuits sought injunctions to allow colleges to open courses. At least 1,000 places were secured in this way. The injunctions granted, however, allowed circumventing the More Doctors Law (which only authorized the opening of vacancies in cities with a shortage of health professionals).
In parallel, an action that deals with the subject is underway in the STF (Federal Supreme Court). On August 7th, Minister Gilmar Mendes decided that new vacancies in medical courses in private institutions can only be created if they meet all the requirements stipulated by law. Includes carrying out public call, sort of selection that identifies where there is a greater shortage of professionals. read the full of the decision (369 KB).
Mendes understood that the requirement is constitutional and that it must be complied with, something that was contested by representatives of educational institutions.
The decision is already valid, but needs to be countersigned by the plenary of the STF. The precautionary measure went to the virtual plenary on August 25, but was interrupted by a request for a view (more time for analysis) by Minister Luiz Fux. Minister Edson Fachin partially disagreed with the rapporteur because he understood that the decision should be more restrictive in relation to the ongoing administrative processes that ask for the opening of vacancies. The divergence was accompanied by the President of the STF, Minister Rosa Weber, who advanced her vote in the judgment.
UNDERSTAND THE LEGAL DISPUTE
O Power360 prepared a history to explain the case in 9 points:
- 1 – In 2013, the More Doctors Law established that the government would adopt as a public policy to prioritize the opening of vacancies in medical courses in regions with a lower concentration of physicians per inhabitant. The program sought to take professionals to places in the interior of Brazil with a shortage of doctors.
- two – From 2013 to 2021 (last year with available data), the number of freshmen in medicine courses more than doubled: from 18,960 for 43,286.
- 3 – After the 2013 law, the concentration of students in the largest cities it fell.
- 4 – With the increase in the number of doctors and criticism of the low quality of some private colleges, the government Michel Temer (MDB), in 2018, instituted a moratorium (full – 353 KB). He banned new medical course openings for 5 years. The moratorium determined that during this interval there would be an evaluation of public policy.
- 5 – Over the years and the delay in starting the assessment, some colleges began to file injunctions in court asking for the creation or expansion of the number of vacancies in medical courses. They argue that the government is stifling private initiative.
- 6 – Judicial decisions even granted more than 1,000 vacancies in injunctions. There was a court rush of colleges asking to increase the offer. Survey of anup(National Association of Private Universities) estimates that if all requests were granted, 20,000 new vacancies would be created.
- 7 – When granting injunctions, judges allow new vacancies to be created in any city. Thus, colleges that go to court are now able to open courses in regions where there are already many doctors, which goes against the spirit of the More Doctors Law, of 2013. Educational groups that had invested for years in opening courses in less populous (and of lesser commercial interest) begin to feel harmed.
- 8 – In June 2022, a lawsuit filed by the anup in the STF asks that the constitutionality of the Mais Médicos Law be confirmed. Thus, it would not be possible to open vacancies in medical courses with injunctions that ignored the requirements of the public call. The process, which is still ongoing, blocks the opening of vacancies through injunctions.
- 9 – On April 5, 2023, are over the effects of the moratorium. The Lula government publishes a new ordinance the following day. The new document allows the opening of medical courses, but reinforces the location criteria set out in the Mais Médicos Law.
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