Trajectories of the Brazilian Medical Residency from the perspective of social responsibilityIn 2026, we celebrate 49 years of the Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica - RBEM1, which has always been anchored in the mission of the Associação Brasileira de Educação Médica - ABEM (Brazilian Association of Medical Education), with an emphasis on “... training professionals capable of meeting the health needs of the population, contributing to the construction of a more just and egalitarian society”.
Nearing its 50th anniversary, for the first time RBEM is dedicating an entire Supplement to the “gold standard” of specialist training in Brazil focusing on the “Social Commitment in Medical Residency: access, inclusion, permanence and retention of doctors in the SUS”, yet another cause for celebration!
We should stress that this choice is consistent with ABEM’s actions over the last decade, which culminated in the REVER Project “Medical Training for Brazil: where are we and where are we heading? A perspective committed to social responsibility in the 21st century”2),(3. In a national movement of rapprochement, dialogue, conceptual alignment and the search for consensus, valuing lessons learnt from the past, looking to the present and projecting the future of a medical education committed to the needs of the Brazilian population, the Rever project aims to qualify the indicators and data available to date on medical training, including, for example, teacher and preceptor availability, the number and distribution of specialists, and employment relations of professionals in the country, to offer suitable parameters for the construction of public policies consistent with the central objective: quality training with social responsibility.
The expectations of the editorial staff responsible for stitching together so many experiences, teaching models, discoveries and uncertainties that cut through resident training were met in full and, it is fair to say, exceeded in the 42 manuscripts received and 27 accepted for publication, of which 19 were original articles and 8 were experience reports.
We invite readers to be inspired by the power of these texts, which present us with innovative approaches to the debate around the medical residency, including a dialogue with the literature of Carolina Machado de Jesus, key reflections on the paths to socio-economic inclusion in residency, addressing persistent challenges in Brazil, such as the sustainability of programmes in remote areas and mapping the construction of the EPAs of a medical speciality to qualify learning in residency, among all the other, equally special, works.
The published papers reveal a broad and diverse snapshot of Medical Residency in Brazil; the richness of our realities, ranging from demographic and structural analyses of residency programmes in areas of direct access, to in-depth discussions on social inclusion, racial diversity and gender equity in access to programmes. The studies explore residents’ subjective challenges in coping with burnout, harassment and the pursuit of quality of life, and the fundamental pedagogical role of preceptors and supervisors in expanding the residency to the interior of the country and to areas of vulnerability, such as indigenous health. The supplement also discusses strategic educational policies, the use of new methodologies such as EPAs and the impact of medical residency on the retention of professionals and social responsibility for the SUS.
In this word cloud created from the titles of the approved articles, we can appreciate the breadth of scope of this volume, considering specialities (anaesthesiology, gynaecology/obstetrics, mastology, family and community medicine, paediatrics, psychiatry), moments (access, graduates, internship), training opportunities (primary care, self-managed, Brazil, community, experiences, group, hospital, matrix support, public, realities, network, region, remote, SUS, work, trajectories, university), subjects involved (educators, students, indigenous, black women, preceptors, professional, residents, supervisors, users), elements of the studies (analysis, demographic distribution, EPAs, associated factors, match, multicentre, perception, profile, action research, repercussions, survey), challenges (harassment, barriers, burnout, communicating, difference, duration, inclusion, resilience, suffering, time, violence), paths and responsibilities (ABEM, expansion, pedagogical skills, development, dialogues, choices, fixation, shift to the interior, mentoring, pioneering, policies, preparation, quality, social responsibility, support, transform, life).
Presenting this Supplement, we cannot fail to thank the generosity of the authors who have dedicated their time to carrying out, recording, reflecting, referencing and finally sharing their work with us. We extend our thanks to the reviewers who, with care and attention, have helped shape the legitimate expression of the ideas constructed by the various authors, and also to the RBEM/ABEM administrative team who have contributed with their heedful consideration in the active search for materials, making this edition a reality and consolidating robust educational evidence for the esteem with which the “gold standard” of specialist training in Brazil is held.
We hope to meet each and every one of you, engaged by the inspiration we seek to bring in the articles, in a confluence of ideas, experiences, knowledge and paths that we hope will be inspired by Antônio Bispo dos Santos4, Nego Bispo, who teaches us that “Confluence is the energy that is moving us towards sharing, towards recognition, towards respect. A river does not cease to be a river upon confluence with another river, on the contrary it becomes itself and other rivers, it becomes stronger. Upon confluence with others, we do not cease to be ourselves. We become ourselves and the others. We grow. Confluence is a force that grows, that increases, that expands.”
References
- 1 Diniz RVZ, Sbruzzi DLR, Afonso DH. Revista Brasileira de Educação Médica: 45 anos de história. Editorial. Rev Bras Educ Med. 2022;46(4):e168.
- 2 Oliveira SS, Capilheira MF, Afonso DH, Silveira LM, Santos L, Pinto LLS et al. Proposta para Diretrizes Curriculares Nacionais dos cursos de medicina. Brasília: Associação Brasileira de Educação Médica; 2024. 70 p.
- 3 Oliveira SS, Afonso DH, Silveira LM, Santos L, Pinto LLS, Capilheira MF et al. Proposta da ABEM para matriz de indicadores. Brasília: Associação Brasileira de Educação Médica ; 2025.
- 4 Santos AB. A terra dá, a terra quer. São Paulo: Ubu; 2023.
Research data is available in the body of the document.
Source: prepared by the authors.