Mais Médicos: Congress reduces deadline to charge Revalida – 05/31/2023 – Health

The mixed commission of the National Congress approved this Wednesday (31) the report of the MP (provisional measure) that resumed the More Doctors program and reduced from 8 to 4 years the time for foreigners to work in the country without the revalidation of the diploma.

The proposal sent by the Lula government (PT) to Congress authorized the participating physician to take the Revalida (National Exam for Revalidation of Medical Diplomas) only after eight years. The first version of Mais Médicos provided for six years (three years extendable for another three).

To circumvent the opposition’s criticism, the text’s rapporteur, senator Zenaide Maia (PSD-RN), suggested a period of four years. In this way, the professional who wants to renew the employment contract must revalidate the diploma at the end of this period.

On the other hand, the rapporteur established that doctors will be exempt from the clinical test of Revalida if they are approved in the periodic evaluations of the program.

“I think anyone who spends four years with the supervision of the academy, being evaluated serially, with real people [dispensa avaliação]. But I would keep the first phase, the descriptive question”, defended Maia during the mixed commission.

The Mais Médicos MP expires on August 1st if it is not validated by Congress. The report approved this Wednesday by the joint committee still depends on the approval of the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

The federal government announced the new version of Mais Médicos in March with the opening of 15,000 new vacancies. By the end of 2023, 28 thousand professionals will be established throughout the country, mainly in areas of extreme poverty.

The resumption of the program is one of the priorities of the Ministry of Health. The vote was accompanied by the Ministry’s Secretary of Primary Health Care, Nésio Fernandes.

Another novelty in the report approved by the joint committee is the possibility of paying a bonus to doctors who have financed their graduation through Fies (Student Financing Fund) and want to do residency in family medicine.

As it is a specialty considered strategic for the SUS (Sistema Único de Saúde), Congress proposed that the doctor earn an incentive equivalent to the outstanding balance when completing, uninterruptedly, 24 months of training to obtain the title.