Knowledge News UMIC Supports the University of Algarve New Medical School Program UMIC Supports the University of Algarve New Medical School Program
- 04/09/2009
On September 4, 2009, in a ceremony held at the University of Algarve chaired by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, the President of the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the Rector of the University of Algarve signed a protocol regarding the support by UMIC of 1.6 million euros for an initial investment in the medical school whose classes will started on September 8, 2009. The funding now provided is intended for educational content, infrastructure, hardware, and related human resources.
On the same occasion, the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education and the Rector of the University of Algarve signed a protocol to establish the modalities of support to be provided by this ministry to implement the teaching of medicine at the University of Algarve, within the Masters Program in Integrated Medicine, whose registry was published in the National Official Journal of April 15, 2009, and a contract program that sets the terms of the financing provided for in the protocol.
Besides, the President of the Science and Technology Foundation and the Rector of the University of Algarve sign a protocol on funding for scientific equipment associated with the Medicine course to be granted by FCT.
The Medical Program of University of Algarve, created in partnership with the New University of Lisbon, has three features that are particularly innovative in the panorama of medical education in Portugal:
- The admission of students is addressed to candidates who already hold a degree (1st cycle of higher education).
- It accepts applicants with undergraduate degrees in fields of natural sciences (e.g., biology, geology, chemistry, etc.), health sciences (e.g., dentistry, veterinary medicine, nursing, pharmacy, biomedical sciences, etc.) or exact sciences (Mathematics, physics, engineering, etc.).
- The pedagogical model is adopts a tutorial scheme and is based on clinical case studies, adopting the methodologies of Problem Based Learning (PBL).
- It includes the teaching of clinical and family medicine practiced in Health Centers.
By the very nature of the learning methodology adopted, the course extensively relies on learning content and databases supported electronically and accessible through the Internet, in a way that is also innovative in Portugal.