Hi everyone,
I’m currently exploring my options for studying medicine, and Brazil is one of the countries I’m considering. I have a few questions and would really appreciate any insight from locals, students, or anyone with experience in this area.
- Which are the best medical schools in Brazil that focus heavily on practical hospital training rather than just theoretical knowledge? I’m looking for universities that give students a lot of real-world clinical exposure during their studies.
- Which cities or regions are the safest for students? I’m aware safety can vary a lot across Brazil, and I’d like to live somewhere where I can feel relatively secure as an international student.
- Is a Brazilian medical degree internationally respected? In other words, does it open doors globally (for example, doing a residency in an English-speaking country afterward)? Or is it more locally recognized?
- Can I study medicine in Brazil in Portuguese, then do a medical residency in an anglophone country like the U.S., UK, or Australia? How feasible is this path, and what would it require in terms of exams, language, or licensing?
Finally—is Brazil really worth it for studying medicine in terms of education quality, cost of living, and future opportunities?
Thanks in advance to anyone who shares their thoughts!
Comments
If you want to study for free (you can do it), be prepared to take a very, very rigorous and competitive university entrance exam
You have the option to study in private universities too, but private medicine schools are quite expensive here, at least in terms of reais (BRL)
I don’t know how to answer the other questions, but I think our best public universities (such as USP, Unicamp, UNESP) are certainly recognized abroad, yeah.
70% of all medicine students in paraguay are brazilians, that should tell you something
news article
Based on your post history, I would say that you would not be able to access all the universities that are good and have international opportunities because the admission process is in Portuguese and very competitive.
Medicine is an extremely difficult degree to be admitted to, with few students being able to be admitted immediately after high school.
As in any poor country, being a doctor is a form of social rise, so there are many, many more people interested in studying medicine than there are offers at universities. easily exceed the ratio of candidates per vacancy from 1 to 100.
So it’s not even about Brazil. If you want to study medicine and explore your options, look for degrees in rich countries.
USP, UFRJ, UFMG, Ciências Médicas MG, PUC Minas, UFSJ, UFV, UFOP, UNICAMP, Unifenas,
Ouro Preto, São João del Rey, Alfenas, Ribeirão Preto, Campinas, Viçosa, prefer medium and small sized cities over big metropolitan centers.
Yes, my cousin just finished a Master’s degree in Switzerland recently
Yes, just pay attention to the country regulations regarding foreign diploma
Public universities are highly competitive as the others say, but if you get into one you’ll learn stuff that you won’t see anywhere else in the world. Brazil trains army doctors from several countries because you only find wounds from war weapons on a country not (officially) at war here. In my city, there’s a Norwegian exchange programme for neurosurgery, that’s the only way for Norwegian doctors to learn how to fix a knife in the skull or a 0.50 calibre bullet to the head (if the person survived).
Also, the public health system is the largest in the world, so even the British NHS comes here to learn how to do it.
Try Bolivia.
Bulgaria may be your best shot. DM me for more information.
getting into a good medicine degree is literally the hardest degree idea that you can have inside Brazil.
Hard true, give up and choose another country. People here spend YEARS trying to get into the good medical schools. even the slightly above average ones. and they are doing a test in their native language. do you really think your chances would be that good? the test has portuguese grammar questions and an essay in portuguese!
As rule of thumb, public universities are the best (tho some have a higher budget and more research opportunities than others). Most of them (if not all) have some sort of “hospital escola” where students from the 5th and 6th year treat patients. Like others have mentioned, the entrance exams are really competitive.
There are some prestigious private institutions too, and lots of less prestigious schools where won’t find what you are looking for (my friend’s brother is a doctor and in his university they would hire actors to act like patients instead of having students deal with real patients).
Again, as rule of thumb, smaller cities are usually safer than the capitals. And as important as the city/region is whether or not you have enough money to live in a nice neighborhood.
As for internacional opportunities later, medicine in general is a career that doesn’t allow much of that. No matter if you got your degree in Europe or in Africa, I don’t know of any country that will allow you to practice medicine with a foreign degree without at least having you take a very rigorous exam to prove your knowledge. What type of license you need in English speaking countries depends on those countries requirements.
You might have an easier path than you would be led to believe. There is a program called the PEC-G which allows Tunisians to study in Brazil, based on your academic record abroad, without the need to take the vestibular. You’d have to contact the Brazilian Embassy/Consulate there, but I believe the application process usually opens up in May/June.
You can first join the PEC-PLE which gives you a yearlong course of study in Portuguese and then join the PEC-G afterwards.
https://www.gov.br/mre/pt-br/assuntos/cultura-e-educacao/temas-educacionais/programas-de-estudo-para-estrangeiros/pec-g/sobre#pais
The admission process is entirely in Portuguese and extremely competitive, unless you want to pay ou the ass for some shitty degree from a uni nobody knows.
This is such a big thing in Brazil that a lot of people decide to study Medicine in Paraguay and Argentina.