The Postgraduate Program in Nephrology was created and accredited by the Ministry of Education o for Masters and PhD in 1973. It was the first regulated nephrology Program in Brazil.
Since then much important research has come out of the Program, and it has become one of the most prestigious centers in the country for training researchers. In the first 20 years of its history, the Program awarded Masters and Doctors in medicine degrees not only to fellows from Sao Paulo but also those from medical schools and universities throughout the five regions of the country, contributing to implementation of medical research in those universities.
From 1992, driven by the need to incorporate new technologies such as cell and molecular biology, the Program began to attract professionals trained in other related fields such as biomedicine, biology, nursing, pharmacy, biochemistry, physiotherapy, etc. Thus, physicians and non-physicians fellows were awarded Masters or Doctors in Clinical or Basic Nephrology respectively, according to their undergraduate course.
However, since 2004 all graduates of the Program have received the title of Master or Doctor in Science. In 1978, the Program was evaluated for the first time by Capes, the agency responsible for managing and evaluating graduate Programs in Brazil, and received a score of 4.
We improved our score to 6 after creating professional management mechanisms to monitor activities developed by researchers and fellow students. In the following two evaluation periods, given our recognized capacity in training human resources, high quality scientific production and extensive interactions with other researchers, proven by many scientific collaborations with research institutions around the world, exchange of students and participation of researchers as speakers in international events, we achieved a score of 7, the highest score awarded by Capes. We have maintained that score since then.
Our Program aims to train students, researchers and teachers at a level of excellence in the field of clinical and experimental nephrology. The Program also aims to develop clinical and experimental research that contributes to the advancement of science in order to better understand the pathophysiological mechanisms of kidney diseases and their consequences to the organism, as well as the development of therapeutic strategies, improving the quality of life of patients.