The Afiya ecosystem promotes medical professions

In the state, medicine courses are offered at three university campuses: in the capital, at Afya Unigranrio Barra da Tijuca; In Baixada Fluminense, in the Unigranrio Duque de Caxias Wellness Unit, in a recently opened building dedicated to the course with an area of ​​about six thousand square meters and 11 new laboratories; And also Afia Itabirona, in northwest Fluminense.

In order to continue to innovate and expand, Afia Onigranrio has appointed a new dean: radiologist Gustavo Meirelles. With a professional career focused on academia, health management and innovation in the private sector, Meirelles highlights a teaching model that aligns with the increasingly disruptive reality of medicine and medical practice.

— Afia’s own methodology combines different international proposals to provide the student with the best theoretical and practical experience.

To develop this teaching methodology, Afiya doctors and professors traveled to countries such as the United States, Canada and the Netherlands to research the best academic and clinical references and create an exclusive method that combines the best of each experience. At Afia, students experience patient care from an early age, accompanied by teachers, discussing real cases, and developing essential skills for contemporary medical practice. The goal is to bring theory and practice closer together from the first period.

– We use active methods, with learning in small groups, but more than that, what we offer is teaching medicine largely from the patient’s point of view – explains the dean.

Diane Pimentel, a medical student at Afia, arrived at Unigranrio Barra this semester, transferring from another university. Initially, the selection was site-based, but the methodology changed its relationship to the studies.

“The teaching method is much better compared to the old university, because every day is different, and I am not tied to the classroom,” she says.

Part of the training is conducted in simulation centers that offer immersive and realistic experiences. Afia is the only institution in Brazil accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH). The goal of simulation centers is to train the student as much as possible to gain the confidence and technique needed to treat real patients.

In another project, starting in 2025, teachers are also using artificial intelligence (AI) to monitor students’ performance on classroom assessments, and suggest personalized action plans adapted to each student’s needs.

— When joining Afia, a student becomes part of a complete ecosystem, which not only provides the best preparation for medical practice, but accompanies them throughout their career – Meirelles details.

Starting in 2026, all Afya Medical students will have free access to Afya Whitebook, an AI solution to support clinical performance used by 80% of newly graduated physicians; Afia Play, a multi-content platform to support studies; and “Data Science and Digital Health Wellness,” an distance learning (EaD) technology course that gives students the option of a dual degree, a competitive advantage after graduation. In addition, students receive discounts on postgraduate, improvement and modernization courses at the Afia Center for Medical Education.

The institution has 25,700 students studying medicine. Registration for the 2026 Unified Entrance Examination is open. Through one registration, a candidate can apply to up to three different institutions in the group. The test is conducted online, in a secure system, which expands the selection process for students from all regions of Brazil.

In this course, places will be available in 27 wellness institutions located in 14 states, all with the same standards and methodology.

The exam is scheduled to take place on January 25, 2026. It is also possible to enter with a result from the National Secondary School Examination (Enem), through second class or external transfer, the rules of which are available on the website fazmedicina.afya.com.br.

Interview – Gustavo Meirelles, Dean of Afia Onigranrio

At the end of October, Doctor Gustavo Meirelles assumed his position as the new president of the Afia Unigranrio Foundation, an educational institution based in Rio de Janeiro, currently the largest medical campus of the group. Meirelles received his PhD in radiology from the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), where he was also a professor and graduate advisor, and did a postdoctoral degree in PET/CT at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York. For 18 years, he worked at Grupo Fleury as a physician and manager. He arrived at Afia this year, where he also serves as Vice President of Medicine. In his new position at Rio, he intends to further encourage research, innovation and academic production at the university.

How will your training and academic career impact your role as dean?

We are very committed to research, innovation and academic production at the university as a whole, including at university level. Afya Unigranrio has five postgraduate programmes, including five master’s degrees and four doctorates, all of which involve very high concepts from the Coordination of Improving Personnel in Higher Education (CAPES), but I would like to mobilize more partnerships, both nationally and internationally. Our interest is to have strong academic production with universities and other private institutions, as well as to establish partnerships for joint programs focused on innovation.

Will research be a priority at the institution?

There is a perception that a private institution invests less in academic research and production, but this is not necessarily true. Our production is important both numerically and in quality. To give you an idea, in 2024 alone there were more than three thousand international academic publications by Afiya students and teachers. Since the beginning of the courses, we have worked to encourage scientific research among students, in addition to critical thinking, which are pillars that we consider essential for training.

How has Unigranrio used technology in medical training?

Students have access to laboratories and simulation centers with artificial intelligence. The experience is immersive and very realistic, very close to the daily life of the profession. AI also helps personalize studies and support diagnostic hypotheses. Furthermore, thanks to international accreditation from the American Heart Association, we train specialists to respond to complex cardiac emergencies. Our goal is continuous development.

BIOTRANS closes research to practical application

One of which Afya Unigranrio is proud, and which demonstrates the integration of teaching, research and social impact, is the inter-institutional graduate program in Translational Biomedicine (Biotrans). Developed in partnership with Inmetro and the State University of Rio de Janeiro (Uerj), the program links basic and applied research, transforming scientific studies into practical solutions for health.

— It is a program that brings together specialists from various fields of health, such as medicine, dentistry, nursing and biomedicine. The projects are organized into three lines: biomarkers, bioimaging and tissue bioengineering – explains coordinator Sergian Viana Cardoso.

Between 2021 and 2024, Biotrans published 367 scientific articles – 42.7% of them in A1 and A2 (maximum level) journals – as well as 25 theses and 11 theses. Currently, there are 69 students, including master’s, doctoral and post-doctoral. In addition to partnerships with the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Biotrans brought a master’s degree in translational biomedicine to Afya Manacapuru, 100 kilometers from Manaus, with the aim of training professors who are born and transform health in the Amazon.