This study relates to examination of medical education in Brazil and its current challenges at its intersection with the public healthcare system. It is a part of a broader qualitative participatory study entitled "Evaluative research on management of the work process and training of healthcare undergraduates and workers: exploring the boundaries". We present a historical review of medical education in Brazil in order to explore its present-day ramifications, by analyzing the empirical experience of implementation and monitoring of the discipline of Public Health, which has developed in-service. The results presented are laid out along five axes: i) work process; ii) educational function of the training; iii) clinical practice; iv) influence of the healthcare system on the university; v) curriculum reform.
Medical education; Higher education; Public health system