Medical education under debate: perspectives from the intersection of teaching institutions and the public healthcare system

This study relates to examination of medical education in Brazil and its current challenges at its intersection with the public healthcare system. It is a part of a broader qualitative participatory study entitled "Evaluative research on management of the work process and training of healthcare undergraduates and workers: exploring the boundaries". We present a historical review of medical education in Brazil in order to explore its present-day ramifications, by analyzing the empirical experience of implementation and monitoring of the discipline of Public Health, which has developed in-service. The results presented are laid out along five axes: i) work process; ii) educational function of the training; iii) clinical practice; iv) influence of the healthcare system on the university; v) curriculum reform.