On the 19th and 20th of March, Job Talks took place, mainly for students who are about to begin their clinical years, but also, as expected, for students who simply want to learn more about the Medical Internship, or the influence that their academic career can have on it.
Under the remit of the Mentoring Project, these Job Talks come to us through the voice of former FMUL students, now interns in the most varied specialities. They were asked to produce a short presentation, spoke about their experience as students, the course, the decision on the choice of their speciality, and finally gave a brief summary of their academic lives.
Some of the guests couldn't attend, but still left us their contribution.
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"I joined the FMUL in 2005, at roughly the same time that the current minister of health started leading the HSM-CHLN, and that Prof. Fernandes e Fernandes took office as the new director of the FMUL. Throughout the course I closely followed the various changes that were introduced into the functioning of both the faculty and the hospital, having been a member of the AEFML from 2007 to 2010, as president of the board in my final term. After finishing my studies at the FMUL, I completed another two university degrees - a course specialising in public health, and a master's degree in business administration - and I am currently working as a public health medical intern".
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"I am a Cardiology intern at the Santa Cruz Hospital and a guest assistant of Pharmacology and Neurosciences at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon. I joined the FMUL in 2008 and finished my integrated master's degree in 2014, where I was an effective member of the pedagogical council."
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To what extent did choosing FMUL help you with your professional growth? (What are the advantages of having chosen FMUL, with regard to the labour market?)
Diogo Medina: Since I completed my degree in Medicine, I have completed several internships and worked in numerous hospitals, research centres, health-related public and private agencies, and also NGOs and IPSS, both in Portugal and abroad. Studying at the FMUL made all the difference in my journey, opening horizons to all aspects of medical work, far beyond clinical practice: in research, health communication, management and even civic intervention. All because the physicians who make up the FMUL have very diverse profiles, far beyond the mere diversity of the medical specialities they represent. FMUL is a faculty where things "happen", either on the initiative of the university itself, or because it has some of the most active student-based structures in the country - such as the AEFML or the Move-te Mais Association - or even because it has a close relationship with the Portuguese decision-makers in the field of health. On the other hand, it is a world-oriented faculty. It is not limited to what happens internally, it has strong international links, and that makes all the difference.
Afonso Félix de Oliveira: My education at the FML was based on two complementary axes, the medical training itself, and the development of complementary, non-medical skills (i.e. soft skills). The medical training at the FML has always maintained very high standards, founded on the pre-clinical/IMM years and university clinics. These stages were key for overcoming the challenges I currently face as a Cardiology intern. I acquired non-medical skills through projects like the GAPIC, Pedagogical Initiation Internships, AEFML Exchanges, the Pedagogical Council, the ERASMUS program and the AEFML teams. These skills are still useful in the contact with patients, but are fundamental for a positive and differentiating contribution to the service and society.
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How do you think that the FMUL can stand out from other Medical Schools in the country?
Diogo Medina: The FMUL excelled in taking advantage of the conditions created by the creation of the IMM and the GAPIC (and with the opening of the indissociable Egas Moniz Building) in order to stand out in the production of high quality knowledge. I would say that this was the great legacy of the FMUL in the last decade, when compared with other medical schools. But times have changed. The medical profession is undergoing deep changes in our country, either due to career-related aspects and the threat of a lack of differentiation, or due to the weight of technological innovation or the ageing population, in the context of growing resource restrictions, or even due to the growing strength of complementary therapies and a climate of medical fake-news that one begins to feel. I believe that in the coming decade, the FMUL has to strive to place its students at the forefront of other worthy areas of medical performance, like health communication, evidence-based medicine, among others. A physician who is only a clinician is little more than a technician these days. The present and future call for physician-researchers, that is a fact, but also physician-therapists, physicians who can train multidisciplinary teams, physician-managers, physician-communicators, physician-lawyers, physician-entrepreneurs, etc. I believe that the FMUL can stand out from the other medical schools through the differentiating factor that would emerge from the implementation of a career management centre, similar to those found in management schools, that would work on social skills (or soft skills) and prepare the students for personalised careers in Portuguese medicine.
Afonso Félix de Oliveira: I think that the FMUL has to lead the evolution of the country's medical education. It is crucial to maintain and improve the quality of medical training, and it is essential to rethink the numerus clausus, in order to broaden cooperation with national and international hospitals to expand the medical experiences offered to students. In addition, the FML will be able to stand out through a solid non-clinical skills programme, that combines and expands pre-existing projects, that prepares students to be involved in medical or non-medical careers (e.g., the pharmaceutical industry, regulation, research, management).
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How important can having these types of initiatives be for the personal and professional development of the students?
Diogo Medina: Thanks to the fact that my academic background is not very linear, I have received countless contacts from students over the years, asking for advice on how to get involved in different areas or even on a more traditional clinical course, on how to stand out from their peers. Most realise too late that they did not take full advantage of the immense length of the medical course by enriching their curriculum with a wealth of different experiences, from extra-curricular internships, to volunteering, and also learning foreign languages. Students have to be challenged, through initiatives of this kind, to go beyond the walls of the Santa Maria Hospital. If there are medical students in Portugal that can become the "discoverers" of a new way of doing medicine, these are the FMUL students.
Afonso Félix de Oliveira: I hope that this initiative can introduce different vocational training courses that help students to visualise options for their careers and make the best decisions for their future. The alumni are by nature very well placed to bring the current dynamic of the labour market into the faculty. It is important that the students realise that there are several valid careers, and that their main concern must be to build a set of skills that will allow them to succeed in the global job market.
Under the remit of the Mentoring Project, these Job Talks come to us through the voice of former FMUL students, now interns in the most varied specialities. They were asked to produce a short presentation, spoke about their experience as students, the course, the decision on the choice of their speciality, and finally gave a brief summary of their academic lives.
Some of the guests couldn't attend, but still left us their contribution.
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Diogo Medina
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"I joined the FMUL in 2005, at roughly the same time that the current minister of health started leading the HSM-CHLN, and that Prof. Fernandes e Fernandes took office as the new director of the FMUL. Throughout the course I closely followed the various changes that were introduced into the functioning of both the faculty and the hospital, having been a member of the AEFML from 2007 to 2010, as president of the board in my final term. After finishing my studies at the FMUL, I completed another two university degrees - a course specialising in public health, and a master's degree in business administration - and I am currently working as a public health medical intern".
size="30"
Afonso Félix de Oliveira
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"I am a Cardiology intern at the Santa Cruz Hospital and a guest assistant of Pharmacology and Neurosciences at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon. I joined the FMUL in 2008 and finished my integrated master's degree in 2014, where I was an effective member of the pedagogical council."
size="20"
To what extent did choosing FMUL help you with your professional growth? (What are the advantages of having chosen FMUL, with regard to the labour market?)
Diogo Medina: Since I completed my degree in Medicine, I have completed several internships and worked in numerous hospitals, research centres, health-related public and private agencies, and also NGOs and IPSS, both in Portugal and abroad. Studying at the FMUL made all the difference in my journey, opening horizons to all aspects of medical work, far beyond clinical practice: in research, health communication, management and even civic intervention. All because the physicians who make up the FMUL have very diverse profiles, far beyond the mere diversity of the medical specialities they represent. FMUL is a faculty where things "happen", either on the initiative of the university itself, or because it has some of the most active student-based structures in the country - such as the AEFML or the Move-te Mais Association - or even because it has a close relationship with the Portuguese decision-makers in the field of health. On the other hand, it is a world-oriented faculty. It is not limited to what happens internally, it has strong international links, and that makes all the difference.
Afonso Félix de Oliveira: My education at the FML was based on two complementary axes, the medical training itself, and the development of complementary, non-medical skills (i.e. soft skills). The medical training at the FML has always maintained very high standards, founded on the pre-clinical/IMM years and university clinics. These stages were key for overcoming the challenges I currently face as a Cardiology intern. I acquired non-medical skills through projects like the GAPIC, Pedagogical Initiation Internships, AEFML Exchanges, the Pedagogical Council, the ERASMUS program and the AEFML teams. These skills are still useful in the contact with patients, but are fundamental for a positive and differentiating contribution to the service and society.
size="20"
How do you think that the FMUL can stand out from other Medical Schools in the country?
Diogo Medina: The FMUL excelled in taking advantage of the conditions created by the creation of the IMM and the GAPIC (and with the opening of the indissociable Egas Moniz Building) in order to stand out in the production of high quality knowledge. I would say that this was the great legacy of the FMUL in the last decade, when compared with other medical schools. But times have changed. The medical profession is undergoing deep changes in our country, either due to career-related aspects and the threat of a lack of differentiation, or due to the weight of technological innovation or the ageing population, in the context of growing resource restrictions, or even due to the growing strength of complementary therapies and a climate of medical fake-news that one begins to feel. I believe that in the coming decade, the FMUL has to strive to place its students at the forefront of other worthy areas of medical performance, like health communication, evidence-based medicine, among others. A physician who is only a clinician is little more than a technician these days. The present and future call for physician-researchers, that is a fact, but also physician-therapists, physicians who can train multidisciplinary teams, physician-managers, physician-communicators, physician-lawyers, physician-entrepreneurs, etc. I believe that the FMUL can stand out from the other medical schools through the differentiating factor that would emerge from the implementation of a career management centre, similar to those found in management schools, that would work on social skills (or soft skills) and prepare the students for personalised careers in Portuguese medicine.
Afonso Félix de Oliveira: I think that the FMUL has to lead the evolution of the country's medical education. It is crucial to maintain and improve the quality of medical training, and it is essential to rethink the numerus clausus, in order to broaden cooperation with national and international hospitals to expand the medical experiences offered to students. In addition, the FML will be able to stand out through a solid non-clinical skills programme, that combines and expands pre-existing projects, that prepares students to be involved in medical or non-medical careers (e.g., the pharmaceutical industry, regulation, research, management).
size="20"
How important can having these types of initiatives be for the personal and professional development of the students?
Diogo Medina: Thanks to the fact that my academic background is not very linear, I have received countless contacts from students over the years, asking for advice on how to get involved in different areas or even on a more traditional clinical course, on how to stand out from their peers. Most realise too late that they did not take full advantage of the immense length of the medical course by enriching their curriculum with a wealth of different experiences, from extra-curricular internships, to volunteering, and also learning foreign languages. Students have to be challenged, through initiatives of this kind, to go beyond the walls of the Santa Maria Hospital. If there are medical students in Portugal that can become the "discoverers" of a new way of doing medicine, these are the FMUL students.
Afonso Félix de Oliveira: I hope that this initiative can introduce different vocational training courses that help students to visualise options for their careers and make the best decisions for their future. The alumni are by nature very well placed to bring the current dynamic of the labour market into the faculty. It is important that the students realise that there are several valid careers, and that their main concern must be to build a set of skills that will allow them to succeed in the global job market.
