Camilo Santana defends the MEC test as the ‘OAB’ of medicine and says ‘there’s no point in taking another exam’

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A Senate committee approved the creation of a test which would be carried out by the Federal Council of Medicine (CFM) for newly qualified doctors, like what is done for lawyers and the OAB. In other words, any unlicensed person would not be able to practice the profession. What do you think of the idea?

The concern of the CFM and members of Congress is the quality of medical training in Brazil. We also have this concern. This is why we created the National Medical Training Evaluation Examination (Enamed), which evaluates courses, and the first results could already lead to sanctions next year. We suggest to Congress that Enamed itself undergo the necessary changes to ensure that this test is similar to the OAB.

The Senate’s proposal provides that the CFM will not register any person who does not achieve mastery of the test. Are you not opposed to this?

This is a decision of the Council, I will not go into the details of this question, but let Enamed be the proof. There is no point in taking another exam. We created this system to evaluate medical courses each year and close those that are not going well. In addition, we will have two applications, one in the middle of the course, also next year, and another at the end, as we did in 2025. And we advocate that the student’s result be on their CV — which we are still analyzing if, for this, it is necessary to approve it in Congress. Guaranteeing the quality of medical training in Brazil is also a concern of the MEC and the Ministry of Health.

GLOBO revealed last week that five states have increased to five or six the number of subjects in which a student can fail and still pass the year. How do you see this movement?

I saw the report and I was worried. I will still discuss with my team to find out if we can create regulations to better define this, if it is necessary to contact the National Education Council, for example. This worried me for two reasons. First, there is a risk that students will pass the year without learning. And the other is inequality in comparing numbers. One state maintains the two or three subject criteria, while the other facilitates approval. This has a practical effect on Ideb (the higher the approval, the higher the Ideb score). So, I don’t think it’s fair. Either we standardize it, so that it is the same for everyone, or… I will see this month with my team what actions the ministry can take to try to regulate this.

What changes will there be in the Enem 2026 pre-test to avoid leaks?

I asked Inep to tell me what we need to do to correct or prevent this from happening again. I’ll wait for them to position themselves.

Should the Capes Talent Award, where the boy got the leaked questions in 2025, end?

Will the Senate vote on the National Education Plan this year?

I’m hopeful that we can do it. The House committee has already prepared the text in conversation with the Senate, so it is very aligned. I believe we will have no difficulty approving it this year.

What do you want to deliver in the final year of Lula 3?

I want to universalize the Nest Egg. We are obviously grappling with the question of the budget. But today we pay for those who are in CadÚnico and, sometimes, the student does not receive it due to a difference of R$10 in family income. I don’t think that’s fair. We are still trying this change in the first half of the year. If that’s not possible, at least in the second.

I would also like to talk politics with you. With the entry of Ciro Gomes (PSDB) into the fight for the government of Ceará, your name was once again speculated to run against him. Is there this possibility?

I am not a candidate. Elmano (de Freitas) was a great governor. He has the right to be re-elected and is well rated. But of course, politics is dynamic. The ongoing project in Ceará has progressed — with many difficulties in areas like public security, which is a problem throughout Brazil… But it has progressed in the areas of education, health and job creation.

If politics is dynamic, can the candidate change?

I say very seriously that our candidate for re-election is Elmano de Freitas. Our concern now is to choose our senators.

We have a very big alliance and, of course, there are people in our party who want to be candidates for senator, from the PT itself. But our allies come to us and say: “Look, the presidential candidate is already from the PT, we will support him. The candidate for governor is already from the PT, we will already support him. Wow, let’s share spaces too.” So there are candidates from the MDB, the PSD, the PT, the Republicans who want to appear on the list. At the appropriate time, we will resolve it.

Governor Elmano has taken a stance on public safety that is not common on the left. For example, he welcomed the Rio mega-operation, criticized by President Lula. How do you see this position?

When I was governor, I studied this issue of public safety a lot. We have made every investment you can imagine in Ceará. I speak very frankly about it with President Lula. “President, if this country does not build action, a national pact against crime, with the constituted powers, such as the President of the Republic, the National Congress, the Supreme Federal Court, Justice and all the States, whatever the partisan and political issues, it will be difficult for us to fight organized crime in Brazil.” We must fight intelligently and toughen the laws further – and this is part of Minister (of Justice Ricardo) Lewandowski’s proposal. And we need faster and more effective action from the judiciary, integrating information from the states, protecting the borders more, increasing the number of federal police, creating a more in-depth debate… Brazil must unite around this issue. It’s disgusting to see a criminal kill a good citizen. Elmano is right in his position. And I have already argued that we need to get tougher from the point of view of fighting crime.

How did you see Senator Flávio Bolsonaro entering the presidential race? Do you think it’s real?

Politics is a comparison. Let’s compare the four years of Bolsonaro with those of President Lula. It’s incomparable. There was a denialist government that abandoned the Brazilian people in a pandemic. And I’m not even talking about economic indicators, which are all better. Lower unemployment rate, lower inflation, lower economic growth, all that, right? For me, Flávio Bolsonaro represents Bolsonaro, he represents the four years of neglect of the country. This is why I believe that President Lula has great chances and that he will go through the history of Brazil with his fourth presidential term, because he has done a lot for this country.

Do you think Tarcísio also represents the Bolsonaro government?

Look, he has a slightly different style, but he supports Bolsonaro’s project, right? So, according to this old story, no one chooses an opponent. I have no doubt that the Brazilian population will be able to distinguish the projects underway in Brazil.

And what about Lula’s vice-presidential position?

Vice President (Geraldo) Alckmin is a great person, he made a great contribution. If I have to choose, I think he continues. Of course, much will depend on the electoral context of next year, but I consider the vice president to be one of the great political figures of this country who made a great contribution to Lula’s government.

And after Lula? Who do you think will succeed the president?