The first thing to consider for the practice of medicine in Portugal, are the requirements and steps for the process of equivalence of medical degrees. This equivalence can be done in most of the Portuguese universities that teach the medical course, among them the ones that stand out are: • University of Lisbon • New University of Lisbon • University of the Algarve • University of Oporto - Abel Salazar Institute of Biomedical Sciences • University of Oporto - School of Medicine • University of Beira Interior • University of Minho The process of revalidation of foreign medical degrees in these universities usually opens the first semester of each year, this process is autonomous and varies in time and modality depending on each institution and its regulations, however in recent years the pattern has been the establishment of a series of successive and eliminatory phases that have been used as a guide in general. These phases being the following: 1) Documentary stage: It is the stage where the applicant must provide and present to the Academic Services of the selected University the complete list of their documents, together with proof of payment of the registration fee. The documents to be consigned will be: • Diploma or university degree. • Full school history. • Programmatic history of the subjects. • Identification document of the applicant (passport). • Conversion of the numerical scale of the notes. • Monograph, research work, internship or curriculum report. • Country reciprocity document. • Curriculum vitae. These documents must be duly apostilled. They must be delivered personally by the applicant or by a duly qualified lawyer. The documents will be analyzed by a committee of professors established by the University itself and, if they meet the requirements, the candidate can continue with the next step. 2) Theoretical test Approved in the documentary stage, the applicant will move on to the theoretical exam phase. This is an exam consisting of 120 multiple-choice questions, from the main areas of medicine (Gynecology and Obstetrics, Surgery, Clinical Medicine, Pediatrics, General and Family Medicine, Public Health and Mental Health). The applicant must approve at least 50% of the questions. 3) Practical test The next step is the evaluation of knowledge when dealing with real clinical cases and subsequent discussion with a group of selected teachers. The candidate will receive one or two patients for the interview, the clinical analysis and the writing of his complete report, which includes: history, physical examination, proposal for provisional diagnosis, request for complementary examinations, discussion of differential diagnosis, establishment of definitive diagnosis, therapeutic proposal and prognosis. The next day, before a group of designated teachers, the candidate must present and discuss the prepared reports. At this stage, the candidate must also obtain at least 50% of the value of the test for their success. 4) Public exam Finally, the presentation of a monograph, relevant scientific work, internship report or detailed report of the curriculum is required, the candidate will have to present his work before a jury of teachers, who can intervene and question it during his presentation. If the jury considers the performance to be positive, it gives the candidate a score of 10 to 20 points. The final classification of the medical equivalence process will result from the arithmetic average, on a scale of 0 to 20, obtained from the aforementioned tests. Once all this stage has been approved, the health professional may exercise in the country with all the powers. The total time of the entire revalidation process takes about 10 months; as for the economic part, the values of the registration and exam fees may also vary according to the faculty, but they are around € 500 in total.
