Research and Advanced Education
The best doctors in Europe? Yes, we can!
The role of GAPIC in the scientific education of future physicians
In addition to the activities that GAPIC has been carrying out continuously, of which the programme “Education through Science”, now starting its 17th edition, the SPSS and dissemination of science courses, and the allocation of the Astrazeneca Scholarship stand out, last year GAPIC also promoted the award of the Gulbenkian-FMUL scientific research and mobility scholarships as part of a one-year programme which it successfully applied to called initiative Live In. This was done in close collaboration with the AEFML Training Unit. The programme aims to facilitate the participation of medical students in the day-to-day life of research groups. GAPIC also started the Research Day at FMUL, during which the research activities carried out by undergraduate students stood out.
Research Day will have its second edition in December of this year, and the highlight will be the presentation of projects conducted as part of the Gulbenkian-FMUL Scholarships. The balance of the activities of GAPIC is undoubtedly very positive and encouraging, and it also prompted reflection on the mission of this office.
In doing so, I recalled that in not such a distant past, scientific research carried out by our own doctors was rare. It was often perceived as unnecessary or even as bringing discredit to the career of a doctor who wished to assert himself as a clinical practitioner of excellence. There were of course physicians-researchers, but they were the exception, albeit much honourable and respected, to the established pattern about two or three decades ago. I point out that it represented a cultural setback in relation to earlier times. The causes for that setback are known, and they are not only, or mostly, due to financial reasons, I point out again. But times have changed thanks to several concurring facts, and they are better, indeed much better. The continued and persistent action of right-thinking individuals and groups of opinion-makers of public and private institutions - in the latter’s case the role of foundations is extremely praiseworthy - in addition to the clear improvement of financial, material and logistic resources, led to remarkable changes in attitude and mentality which were almost revolutionary due to their intensity and speed.
Medical education has the conditions and provides opportunities that would be unthinkable in the days when I was a student. Our health system has improved admirably, standing now among the top twelve in the world. Our medicine and health professionals have become international, the same applying to the prestige and recognition they enjoy. The strengthening of the good clinical research that has been conducted in Portugal is now perceived as a necessity, a must, and a deliberate attitude so that the quality of our medicine can improve even further. With its own specificities and expectable advancement, basic research in biological and biomedical fields also experienced a similar positive evolution. The symbiosis between research in these areas and clinical ones has started already, and the results are increasingly more tangible. The role of research carried out by physicians to advance medical knowledge and the quality of clinical practice is unquestionable. However, the combination of clinical activity with doctoral programmes that promote the solid scientific training of young doctors and the training and functioning of multidisciplinary teams in a partnerships involving doctors and scientists of basic areas (biological, among others) requires a broad institutional vision supported by adequate logistics. In our Faculty, the Academic Centre is in a privileged position to provide that logistic support due to its inter-institutional position and its explicit mission, and it has started offering it at a remarkable pace. For its part, GAPIC is also in an excellent position to foster the liking and respect for scientific research in a period that is critical in the training of future doctors, the undergraduate stage. GAPICintends to continue to improve the coordination with the Academic Centre and the Students’ Association, so that scientific experience becomes an integral part of the culture of our students.
I believe that in the short term our institution can become a model extendable to the entire country so that, in addition to excellence in clinical activity (recognized already), we can also attain excellence in the clinical and biomedical research carried out by physicians, in order to have the best doctors in Europe!
Is this goal attainable? I think so. The true revolutions that the health and scientific research systems in Portugal have undergone in record time are proof of our ability to meet ambitious targets. I reiterate the theme of President Obama’s campaign… the best doctors in Europe? YES, WE CAN!
João Ferreira
Coordenador do GAPIC
gapicmail@fm.ul.pt