MARIANI, Alessandro Wasum

PÊGO-FERNANDES, Paulo Manuel

RCAAP - Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal

O ensino médico além da graduação: iniciação científica

Biblioteca Digital da Produção Intelectual da Universidade de São Paulo (BDPI/USP)

Sao Paulo Med J. 2010; 128(3):117-8 117
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Medical education beyond graduation: scientific initiation
O ensino médico além da graduação: iniciação científica 
Paulo Manuel Pêgo-FernandesI, Alessandro Wasum MarianiII
IFull and associate professor, Department of Cardiopneumonology, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP).
IIPhysician and postgraduate student, Discipline of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP).
The increase in the number of medical schools active in Brazil has 
given rise to a discussion about undergraduate medical programs, with 
regard to what their precepts should be, what methodology would 
be most appropriate and which curricular model should be applied. 
Nonetheless, modern medical training can and must be more wide-
ranging than the training normally envisaged in each school’s curric-
ular program. In this and in coming editorials, we will be discussing 
some of the so-called extracurricular activities that professors and in-
stitutions ought to be increasingly encouraging their students to par-
ticipate in. We will begin with scientific initiation. 
Scientific initiation can be defined as a tool for introducing under-
graduate students to scientific research activities. It is the best opportu-
nity for putting students into direct contact with scientific activity and 
engaging them in research.1 In practice, it consists of providing theoreti-
cal and methodological support for carrying out research projects.2
In this university-based activity, students have the opportunity 
to learn through taking on the role of researchers, under supervision. 
They can undertake all aspects of academic research: literature review, 
research design, practical development, academic writing and presen-
tation of results in publications and scientific events.3
The specialized literature on medical education highlighted this 
topic starting in the 1990s, with emphasis on the importance of sci-
entific issues in the general training for physicians.4 There is general 
agreement that the best way to teach students how to read and inter-
pret scientific articles correctly, with critical analysis, is through experi-
ence of developing scientific projects.5 As done in other countries, sev-
eral Brazilian medical schools have implemented programs of initia-
tion to scientific research in the form of academic disciplines.6,7
Despite the importance of scientific initiation, it is still not offered 
to all undergraduate students in Brazil. In data from the Enade 2007 
survey, 39% of the students stated that regulated scientific initiation 
existed in their courses; 12% said that scientific initiation existed, but 
in an unregulated form; 6.5% stated that scientific initiation existed, 
but was not integrated into the curriculum; 10.9% said that it was not 
offered; and 31% were unable to give an opinion.8
In addition to integration of scientific initiation into the under-
graduate program, another major incentive indicated by students was 
the possibility of obtaining bursaries that are made available for proj-
ect development. In Brazil, the National Council for Scientific and 
Technological Development (Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento 
Científico e Tecnológico, CNPq) is the main funding agency, through 
its Institutional Program of Scientific Initiation Bursaries (Programa 
Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação Científica, Pibic). Nonetheless, 
there has been notable growth in the participation of state-based fund-
ing agencies, and the Research Support Foundation of the State of 
São Paulo (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, 
Fapesp), the Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Ja-
neiro (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, 
Faperj) and the Research Support Foundation of the State of Minas 
Gerais (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais, 
Fapemig) have been prominent among these. 
However, the presence of such bursaries should be thought of as fun-
damental for developing scientific initiation. Today, this has become a duty 
among institutions, rather than a sporadic activity. Because of the acceler-
ated development of medical science and the constant avalanche of new 
information, it now has to be considered that scientific initiation should 
really become a basic element in physicians’ training. Scientific initiation 
bursaries should therefore be an individual incentive, as a form of selective 
funding for the best students, when they are linked to research projects. 
The impact of scientific initiation programs on Brazilian national 
scientific production is not fully known. However, it can be indirectly 
estimated through the growing numbers of published papers that have 
studied this teaching activity and through the appearance of scientific 
meetings dedicated specifically to this activity, such as the National 
Scientific Initiation Congress, which has now been held eight times, 
and congresses developed by a variety of teaching institutions. Exam-
ples of the latter include the University Medical Congress of Univer-
sidade de São Paulo (USP), the Scientific Initiation Congress of Uni-
versidade de Brasília (UnB) and the Scientific Initiation Seminary of 
Pontifícia Universidade Católica, in Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio).
Another important point is the growing interest among the teach-
ing staff in recruiting students for scientific initiation. The current mod-
el used by the Coordination Office for Advancement of University-level 
Personnel (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Supe-
rior, Capes) has certainly had an influence, since the documents that de-
scribe the assessment criteria for postgraduate programs make two men-
tions of the importance given to scientific initiation with regard to guid-
ance for students. Furthermore, lecturer incentive programs in several Bra-
zilian universities have also ended up placing value on lecturers who are 
involved in scientific initiation. One example of this is the Strand A in-
centive program for academic production of FMUSP (Faculdade de Me-
dicina da Universidade de São Paulo), which is managed by and under 
Sao Paulo Med J. 2010; 128(3):117-8
Pêgo-Fernandes PM, Mariani AW
118
the responsibility of the Research Commission of FMUSP. Through this 
program, lecturers hired under a regime of exclusive dedication receive sal-
ary supplementation according to their academic and scientific production. 
These professors are assessed annually and guidance given to scientific initia-
tion students scores points. 
CONCLUSION 
Interest in scientific initiation in Brazil and around the world has 
been increasing, both among students and among professors and insti-
tutions. In Brazil, this has been propelled through incentives received 
through funding agencies, through the Capes model for postgraduate 
programs and, especially, through the growing need for up-to-date sci-
entific knowledge on which to base day-to-day clinical practice.
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Sources of funding: None 
Conflicts of interest: None
Date of first submission: June 1, 2010
Last received: June 1, 2010
Accepted: June 1, 2010
INFORMATION
Address for correspondence: 
Paulo Manuel Pêgo-Fernandes 
Instituto do Coração (InCor) 
Secretaria do Serviço de Cirurgia Torácica 
2o andar — bloco 2 — sala 9 
Av. Dr. Enéas de Carvalho Aguiar, 44  
Cerqueira César — São Paulo (SP) — Brasil 
CEP 05403-000 
Tel. (+55 11) 3069-5248 
E-mail: paulopego@incor.usp.br 
E-mail: alessandro_mariani@hotmail.com


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O ensino médico além da graduação: iniciação científica

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