The MD/PhD program: Brazil and the world

Abstract

The Medical Research Training Program was created in the United States in 1956 and consists in the scientific training of undergraduates in medical education in order to train highly qualified professionals for dual work in the medical context: clinical and research. The present article aims to report some occurrences of the MD/PhD Program around the world, using as a starting point, and as inspiration for researching scientific articles and institutional sites that report the MD/PhD experience, the article “The combined medical / PhD degree: a global survey of physician-scientist training programs”. However, for the Brazilian context, it was used data provided by Capes on the financing of the program until December 2019. The results show the experiences of the MD/PhD programs on the five continents, including its particularities and similarities. And in the final remarks, common points addressed in different countries and MD/PhD systems are presented, such as the recurrent inspiration in the American model and the need to act against the recent decline of clinical researchers. In Brazil, as well as in countries with recent implementation, the program still lacks studies that assesses its impacts. The observation of the characteristics and peculiarities of the MD/PhD in the different continents and countries of the world allows us to glimpse at some instruments that can be used to strengthen and expand the program at the national level.