The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) will open a new degree in Digital Health and Biomedical Innovation in the 2024/25 academic year, to train professionals capable of bridging the gap between health and technology.
In a statement sent to Lusa today, the FMUP explains that this new degree has 40 places available and starts in September.
The course, which has been approved by the Higher Education Assessment and Accreditation Agency (A3ES), aims to prepare professionals with skills suited to the new demands of the health sector, providing answers to the current and future needs of this sector, he says.
In its report, A3ES, which is responsible for assessing the quality of courses offered in Portugal, argues that “in addition to being pertinent and very innovative, this training offer is of enormous quality and demand”.
“At a time when health is facing increasingly demanding challenges, the new course aims to promote innovative solutions by creating professionals with hybrid health and technology skills, which are increasingly needed in the various health sub-sectors,” says the FMUP.
The faculty’s director explains, quoted in the press release, that the aim of this new degree is to train professionals capable of intervening in various fields of digital health and biomedical innovation, armed with knowledge about research and the provision of health care.
With telemedicine and mobile applications (‘app’) playing a growing role in health, Altamiro da Costa Pereira believes that in order to respond to these needs, professionals capable of bridging the gap between technology and health and with a new training profile are essential.
He added: “This is the only way they will be able to carry out research, programming, consultancy, project management and implement innovation.”
The director of this new degree, João Fonseca, a full professor at FMUP, explains that the curriculum has a common core of two years, which covers human biology, clinical and health services, data sciences, medical informatics and management.
In the third year, students will be able to choose one of four specialized paths: Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence in Health, Biomedical Research and Bioinformatics, Clinical Research and Innovation Management in Health and Health Information Systems and Telehealth, he points out.
According to João Fonseca, FMUP’s new course also aims to provide students with practical professional skills, through internships in health units, companies and associations in various health subsectors.
Among the 50 or so partners are entities such as the University Hospital Center of São João, the IPO of Porto, the Local Health Unit (ULS) of Matosinhos, the Executive Directorate of the SNS, CUF, Luz Saúde, Infarmed or the National Association of Pharmacies, says FMUP.
FMUP clarifies that the degree in Digital Health and Biomedical Innovation is funded by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), and candidates can benefit from funded incentive and merit scholarships.
