Medical schools that received the PROMED (program for the encouragement of curricular changes in medical courses)—Preconditions and change process

Abstract

Since the Curriculum Guidelines (CG) which were created in 2001 and PROMED (Program for the Encouragement of Curricular Changes in Medical Courses), several schools have applied for this incentive. Medical Schools (MS) have faced important changes in their curriculum throughout the years. The purpose is to verify if medical schools that received PROMED already had a historical of curricular changes. Several interviews, which were carried out with PROMED coordinators, were recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to the Bardin’s content analysis technique. Later, these interviews were later categorized into nine themes. This paper analyses the Medical School History category which encompasses three subcategories: existence of a former changing history; need to overcome the model and changing period. It is highlighted that medical schools that received PROMED had a previous changing historical which was sometimes located in anti-hegemonic niches. It is noticeable, however, that such changes were not enough to affect the comprehension of healthillness process and its consequent results. PROMED was, effectively, the reference for medical schools implementing the C.G. which represents, now, a benchmarking for all new and old schools in the country.