Medical Education is undergoing modifications in the doctrine and in the practice of professional education as a consequence of today's globalized world. With respect to the Brazilian Health System, different subjects show increasing interest in medical education and in changes in the healthcare services. There are initiatives for encouraging changes in the medical curriculum for improving medical education. The Program for the Encouragement of Curricular Changes in Medical Courses (Promed) was implemented in this context. In order to analyze the opinion of students about changes in the curriculum of the medical course, we studied six medical schools in three Brazilian states, using questionnaires and interviews. Some of the propositions of the National Curriculum Guidelines have not been met but Promed gave rise to a new extensive program of changes in the medical curriculum. Even having exploratory character, this work clearly indicates the need for prospective studies in order to know the impact of Promed on medical education for adapting it to the healthcare needs of the population.
Medical education; Medical curriculum; Medical students; National curricular guidelines; Promed; Brazilian Health System
