Introduction 

In 2008, several eminent Bahian researchers, who are well-known professors at the Federal University of Bahia (UFBA) and researchers from the Gonçalo Moniz of the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (CPqGM-FIOCRUZ) Research Center, who are mostly CNPq productivity research scholars, gathered together to discuss the possibility of offering a post-graduate “Excellence in Health Sciences” Degree Program. With the approval of CAPES in October 2008, the Post-Graduate Program in Health Sciences (PPgCS) came into being at the School of Medicine in Bahia (FMB) UFBA.

In evolutionary terms, it is worth noting that the PPgCS began its activities in 2009. From 2009 until 2015, therefore over a 7 year period, there has been 71, 83, 64, 89, 62, 78 and 62 respectively complete published articles in journals with 56%, 70%, 55%, 61%, 61%, 67% and 73% of the articles published in journals classified as A1, A2 or B1, as shown in table below.

DP: Permanent Lecturer

It is worth highlighting the growing participation of student authors from the Master's and Doctoral degree courses: in 2009, there weren’t any articles published by a post-grad student; from 2010 onwards, these participants’ work represented 8%, 12.5%, 24%, 34%, 31% and 42% of articles published annually, 42% (26 articles) being the percentage of articles published in 2015. It is really important to highlight the classification of those 26 articles published in 2015 - 81% were published in journals classified in Band A1, A2 or B1- 38% being published in strata A1 or A2. Of these, 26 articles 18 (69%) were products from dissertations or theses, i.e. were articles linked to completed works at PPgCS. This assessment was based on the reference JCR-2014.

The student body of PPgCS includes biologists, bio medics, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, doctors, veterinarians and dentists as well. In 2013, 30 Master’s students, physicians (36%), biologists (23%), bio medics (10%), nurses (10%), pharmacists, physiotherapists and speech therapists (7% each) were represented and 33 doctoral students, physicians (40%), biologists (24%), physiotherapists (21%), bio medics (9%), a dentist and a veterinarian (3% each) were present. Of the 30 students, 8 (27%) are from other Brazilian cities, including 7 from other States (Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Fortaleza, Santa Maria [RS], Teresina, 1 student from each city and 2 students from Recife), and another student from Irecê, a city in the State of Bahia. Of the 33 doctoral students, 7 (21%) are from other towns, and 3 from other States (Maceió, Maceió and Rio de Janeiro) and 4 from inland cities in Bahia (2 from Feira de Santana, Ipiaú and 1 doctorate from Santo Antônio). In 2014, 10 students joined the Master’s course and 12 students on the doctoral course, totalling, since the beginning of PPgCS’s operation in 2009, the arrival of 71 students of Master's and 50 Doctoral students. Of the 22 students registered in 2014, 8 (36%) were doctors, 5 (23%) nurses, 3 (14%), biologists, 3 (14%) biomedical students, 2 (9%) physical therapists and 1 (4%) pharmacist. As to their  origins, 13 (59%) were from Salvador – the capital city of the state of Bahia, 3 (14%) were from other States (2 from Pernambuco – 1 from Araripina, 1 from Recife, 1 from the city of Motenegro in Rio Grande do Sul), 6 (27%) from different cities in the State of Bahia (Cachoeira,Feira de Santana, Ipiaú, Santana, Santo Estevão, Teixeira de Freitas). Of the 18 students enrolled in 2015, 2 (11.1%) were doctors, 5 (27.8%) nurses, 3 (16.7%), biologists (16.7%), 3 (16.7%) bio medics, 3 (16,7%) physical therapists, 1 (5.6%) pharmacist and 1 (5.6%) audiologist. As to their origins, 8 (44%) are from the capital city  the state of Bahia – Salvador, 3 (16,7%) from other states (Ceará, Rio Grande do Sul e São Paulo), 6 (33.3%) from other inland Bahian cities (Feira de Santana, Ipirá, Jequié, Serrinha) and 1 (5.6%) from Spain.

The PPgCS has emphasized the selection of candidates who are already working with their teachers, under guidance. This aspect can be appreciated by the emphasis given to the Preliminary Results item in the selection process, in accordance with what is posted in the PUBLIC NOTICE document 2015 in the menu files to download from the web site of the program. All interested parties are asked to consult the PPgCS web page, to get to know the characteristics and the profile of the faculty, and to see the “areas of interest” of each teacher, for whom links are available online in order to identify which lecturer’s line of research that best fits the needs of the candidate. At that moment, the candidate should, after identifying a possible advisor, make contact via e-mail or telephone, (both of which are available on the PPgCS website for each counsellor,) in order to begin the work of drafting the project, and subsequent implementation. The presentation of these preliminary results is a highly valued item in the selection process. This course of action aims to create opportunities for the mentors to gain knowledge of the student’s performance in case they are not personally known to them, in addition to testing all the logistical phases of the project implementation, where the obstacles are well known and need to be overcome. This strategy aims to ensure that the selected candidates confidently apply themselves to the progress and completion of the project, thus completing their course within the expected timeframe. There is ample dialogue between teachers, meaning that the team of potential mentors, with the assistance of the Board, can be distributed across the right students

The PPgCS does not offer positions to any particular students. Anyone who thinks that having the required courses credits is enough to warrant a place on the course is mistaken, given that the carrying out and completion of the Master’s or Doctorate project lies at the heart of the training. Students who come to PPgCS looking for a position are asked to proceed as above, liaising directly with a guiding tutor from the area in which they are specifically interested, requesting they become an observer. This way, the link between the student and advisor is strengthened and the student can begin to understand the importance of participation in any discipline in preparation for their Master’s or PhD project.

The overall objective of the PPgCS is to offer top-level educational training and clinical research for professionals in the areas of biological sciences and health (biologists, bio medics, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, doctors, veterinarians and dentists), working with epidemiological aspects, diagnosis, histopathology, therapy, prognosis, and disease prevention.

The PPgCS has eminent Brazilian researchers along with newly formed working doctors, offering space for growth in human resources and the establishment of new researchers in the state of Bahia.

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES:

1. Empower professionals with the ability to create and criticize, producing knowledge applicable to act of promoting health;

2. Offer the opportunity for improvement of recently trained doctors, with post-doctoral activities;

3. Absorb recently skilled researchers, productively and with international visibility by regular publication of articles in journals classified within the Bands;

4. Promote the continuing training of teachers, especially at international level.