Characteristics and limits of professional masters programs in the health field: A study with alumni from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil

This paper presents findings of a follow-up study with alumni of three postgraduate courses known as “professional master” in Public Health. They were designed to foster development of competencies of problem-solving and critical thinking, and creative intervention in institutional processes.  This new format of advanced education has been adopted in several countries and is encouraged by Brazilian Ministry of Education. Unlike traditional “academic” masters programs, this “professional” track is oriented toward applied research and institutional innovation. In today, several fields of knowledge offer professional masters courses, including a focus on the management of public policies in the areas of public health and science and technology. From 2002 to 2008, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, one of the major research institutes in public health in offered several of those masters’ courses to its employees, aiming the enhancement of its own managerial processes. Our study population was composed by 66 professional who graduated in 2006. We analyzed those alumni profile and characteristics, identified evidence of changes in their original workplace and assessed the relationship between courses design, institutional needs and alumni expectations. Thirty six participants answered the on line questionnaire. Most of them had not implemented their proposals for institutional development in their respective sectors within the institution. Despite of respondents´ satisfaction with the courses, this inquiry discloses institutional difficulties to incorporate some innovations, including those concerned to its institutional management. A program was then created to increase the rate of innovation implementation. Findings point to some limits and possibilities of this new format of postgraduate courses, emphasizing its evaluation as strategic for institutional development. The conclusion reflects upon the need to foster educational evaluation, with an emphasis on follow up studies in order to assess courses effectiveness and reorient curriculum design.