About the Program

Established in 1971, The Graduate Program in Neurology of FMRP/USP offers – from its beginning – Master and Doctoral programs based on the high specialization of the subareas of Neurology and Experimental Neurology.

We develop original and cutting-edge research in Epileptology and Electroencephalography, Neuropsychiatry, Peripheral Neuropathies, Myopathies, Motor Neurone Disease, Pain, Tropical Neurology (Neuroinfection and Neuro Infestation), Movement Disorders, Neuroimaging, Neurodevelopment, Vascular Neurology, Neurobiology, Sleep Disorders, Neurogenetics, and Neuropsychopharmacology. The projects address clinical and therapeutic topics, in addition to studies on pathogenesis and pathophysiology, with great interest in developing translational research. This correlation has been stimulating for students and the Faculty of the program.

Various laboratories are available for the research projects, with activities ranging from neurophysiological analysis to molecular biology; vivarium for experimental animals; access to patients of the Health Complex (HCFMRP/FMRP/USP/FAEPA), the School Health Center, and the ten Family Health Centers in the West District of Ribeirão Preto.

At the Center for Epilepsy Surgery (CIREP), continuous video-electroencephalographic monitoring of epileptic patients is performed for epilepsy surgery.

Clinical studies are carried out in the outpatient clinics, wards of the HCFMRP/USP, the Clinical Research Unit, the Emergency Unit, and the Mental Health building. For this purpose, a new building of the Department of Neurosciences and Behavioral Sciences is under construction, intended exclusively for research.

The program brings together advisors with training in specialized areas of Neurology, Neuroscience, and other areas of knowledge.

The joint activity of these professors results in clinical investigations and the study of the mechanisms of diseases, empowering scientific initiation, masters, doctoral, and post-doctoral students, promoting scientific productivity.

The program maintains formal and informal partnerships with researchers from facilities and laboratories of the General Hospital of the FMRP/USP, and other academic centers in the country and abroad, mainly from the United States and Europe.

It is also one of the programs in the area of Neurology in Brazil best evaluated by CAPES, with a Grade 7 (seven) in the last four evaluations.

Acknowledged nationally and internationally, the program has qualified, since its establishment to December 2020, 570 students, 242 PhD, and 328 masters. In 2020, 06 dissertations and 08 theses were defended.

Mission

In line with the University of São Paulo and the Office of the Dean for Graduate Studies of USP, the Program (code 17012) mission is to promote science, generate information, and contribute to the development of society.

Goals

The overall objective of our Program is aligned with the lines of research developed by our researchers and aims to qualify doctors and health professionals for scientific research,
teaching, and leadership in health and educational institutions. Training is supported in understanding the health-disease binomial, the interaction with the environment, and the tools that allow evaluating, formulating, developing,
and testing hypotheses that will provide scientific and technological development.

Our ultimate goal is to promote the quality of graduate education at an international level.

Alumni profile

We expect that Graduates of the Master and Doctoral courses become scientific leaders in the areas of Neurology and Neuroscience, creating innovative knowledge, establishing and
developing new methods of scientific research, and contributing to clarify knowledge gaps about neurological and psychiatric diseases.

At the end of the graduate program, the doctor will be able to practice teaching in Brazilian and international universities, in addition to obtaining funding to develop their research
projects and establish new research groups.

Students are encouraged to disseminate the values and knowledge they acquire in the program to other regions of Brazil, especially in remote places, which have a permanent need
for scientists.

The master student who fulfills all the requirements will receive the title of “Master of Science”. Program: Medicine (Neurology), with the respective area of concentration.

Course nomenclature

The master student who fulfills all the requirements will receive the title of “Master of Science”. Program: Medicine (Neurology), with the respective area of concentration.

Doctoral or Direct Doctoral student who fulfills all the requirements will receive the title of “Doctor of Science”. Program: Medicine (Neurology), with the respective
area of concentration.

History

The Graduate Program in Neurology of FMRP/USP was formally established in 1971, 19 years after the FMRP (1952) foundation. The efforts for a second Medical School within USP date
back to the end of the 1940s, when Act 161 of 1948 was passed, during the management of USP’s Dean Ernesto Leme, who promoted initiatives to create university courses in several cities of São Paulo. These efforts
were in tune with the society of Ribeirão Preto, which claimed to host a University.

The educational and philosophical structure of FMRP was based on the set of propositions by the Pan-American Congress of Medical Education, held in Lima, in 1951: 1) systematization
of medical education: a) regular course of Medical Sciences, b) graduate courses; 2) preventive medicine; 3) internal medicine; 4) regular courses for the key disciplines; 5) departmental system: the merger of Internal Medicine
professors in the Department of Internal Medicine and the Surgery professors in the Department of Surgery and their respective interactions with pathology laboratories; 6) a limited number of enrollments, i.e. proportional
to the teaching capacity; 7) compulsory internship; 8) admission of students with scientific, moral, and psychological criteria.

These recommendations included full-time studies for basic and clinical disciplines, in addition to the establishment of a nursing school and the construction of a School Hospital.
These guidelines met the requirements of the Rockefeller Foundation for future financial support to the Medical School. This funding came soon after its establishment and FMRP was offered teacher improvement, department structuring,
laboratory equipment, and services of the School and the General Hospital.

The graduate courses at the FMRP were institutionalized in the 1970s but were already taught here. The new educational policy was implemented between 1970 and 1971, and it was possible
to operate six courses in the basic and seven in applied areas; the Neurology program being one of the programs of the applied areas. Thus, the Graduate Program in Medicine (Neurology) of FMRP/USP is one of the oldest in the
area in the country, and in June 2021, it celebrated its 50th anniversary.

Initially, focused only on the area of concentration in Neurology, it was intended for neurologist doctors. From 2001, it began to cover two major subareas: 1) Neurology, for neurologist
doctors (with at least two years of medical residency in Neurology) and 2) Neurosciences, for doctors not specialized in Neurology, and non-medical professionals interested in developing research in the area of Neuroscience.
The openness to non-medical professionals, including professionals outside the health area, enabled the greater articulation of basic and clinical research.

The Neurosciences sub-area allowed interaction among neurologist physicians, non-neurologist physicians, non-medical health professionals, and professionals from other areas of knowledge.
This factor was crucial to increase productivity and, consequently, keep the maximum grade received in the last CAPES evaluations.

Because of the reformulation of the USP Graduate Program, in September 2015, the program constituted two areas of concentration: Neurology (Code 17140) and Neurosciences (code 17163),
which occurred in 2016 and consolidated the participation of non-neurologists.