Interprofessional education in Brazil: building synergic networks of educational and healthcare processes
The healthcare practices supported by interprofessional education (IPE) and the debate about those processes are in the early stages in Brazil. The SUS is the national public policy in health matters and is geared towards universal access, comprehensiveness, and social participation, articulated around Primary Health Care as the back-bone of the network. In this editorial, we outline social and political processes that have contributed to the development of interprofessional practice (IPP) in Brazil. This promising context and subsequently the need of strengthening the public policies for a reorientation of health professional training were the starting point for summoning a first International Colloquium of Interprofessional Educationand Practice, in Natal (Rio Grande do Norte state, in the Northeast region of Brazil). Several of the IPE experiences analysed were considered aswide-range innovations in the federal universities. As a result of the colloquium, a set of action sand priority areas demanding for investments in order to strengthen IPE in Brazil. The road ahead in Brazil looks extensive, and progress willrequire not only dialogues but an effective alliance amongall those with a stake in the improvement of healthcareand professional training