UFPel continues with procedures to create a Medicine class for the MST

After generating controversy by announcing the creation of a Medicine class exclusively for members of the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST), the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), in Rio Grande do Sul, informed the People’s Gazette that the institution is determined to follow the process of implementing the class.

“We are not talking about a new Medicine course or a new format for regular student admission. As it is called, it is a special class. Which may, in the future, find itself accompanied by another. But always with this seasonal and not permanent character. We are carrying out a survey of all types of needs (material, infrastructure, human resources, inputs, etc.) so that we can move forward responsibly and quickly”, says an excerpt from the statement sent to Gazeta.

As reported by People’s Gazettein July this year, UFPel reportedly gave in to pressure from the MST to also include the Medicine course in the list of courses covered by the National Program for Education in Agrarian Reform (Pronera), a federal program created during the Lula (PT) government, in 2009, and conducted by the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA).

Since Pronera was created, around 3,500 Agrarian Reform settlers – most of them, but not all of them, active in social movements – have already taken Law, Agronomy, Geography, History, Veterinary, Literature and Pedagogy courses. A Medicine course, however, is an old demand from activists.

The main selection criterion for admission to the special Medicine class would be a letter in which candidates should tell their story, as well as “experiences related to the struggle for land, experiences in camps, settlements or rural communities”.

In practice, the entry formula would guarantee greater chances of success for an MST militant’s candidacy, since Pronera’s so-called “Operations Manual” is vague regarding selection methods.

UFPel itself conditioned the approval of candidates for the Veterinary Medicine course on an uninterrupted 19-day experience at the Josué de Castro Education Institute, which is run by the MST and operates within a settlement.

For the Medical Union of Rio Grande do Sul (Simers), relaxing the essential criteria for entry into the Medicine course would lead to a reduction in the quality of training for future professionals.

UFPel defines Pronera as “an instrument to reduce disparities in access to education and representation of health professionals in rural regions, where there is typically a shortage of doctors”.

After criticism from the medical profession and professors at the institution, UFPel said that “despite all the conviction, there is nothing concrete at the present moment and that any initiative will fully respect the national order”, which does not provide for a different format for entry into the courses promoted by the MST.