Students protest for better working conditions in May 2013.| Photo: Brunno Covello/ Archive/ Gazeta do Povo

The Ministry of Education (MEC) published this Thursday (6) an ordinance in the Official Gazette, which authorizes the opening of new vacancies for medical courses in regions of the country where there is a shortage of doctors. According to the text, the opening of vacancies in medicine should be done through public calls that prioritize regions with a lower ratio of vacancies and physicians per inhabitant.

The publication also defines that these calls must consider the relevance and social need of offering medical courses and the existence of adequate, sufficient and quality public equipment.

The opening of medical vacancies in Brazil had been prohibited since April 2018, when an ordinance from the Ministry of Education valid for five years was published as a way to control the quality of new courses in the country.

The suspension of the measure was anticipated on Wednesday (5) by the Minister of Education, Camilo Santana, who stated that the ban had the opposite effect to that intended, since it ended up being overcome by court decisions. With information from Agência Brasil.