Insertion of the Progress Test in a São Paulo Medicine course: report of a successful experience

Introduction: The Medical Course Progress Test (TPMed) has been used by medical schools that have implemented curricular changes, with, for example, community-based/oriented curricula, problem-based learning and competency-oriented curricula, in addition to some graduate programs or isolated disciplines. Based on this premise, the present report proposes to describe the experience in the TPMed implementation process in our Institution and student participation in it. Experience report: Given the importance of the TPMed, the Medicine course at Universidade Santo Amaro (UNISA) joined the SP1 Consortium, with our experience beginning in 2018. The inclusion of UNISA in the TPMed was driven by the school’s participation in the Brazilian Congress of Medical Education (COBEM), and its subsequent association with the Consortium (SP1). Numerous initiatives to raise awareness of the institution’s faculty and students, with the collaboration of the São Paulo Regional Board of the Brazilian Association of Medical Education (ABEM) resulted in 96.74% student participating in the TPMed in 2018, 97.12% in 2019, 98.85% in 2020 and 86.10% in 2021. Regarding student performance, we found a progressive increase in correct answers over the six years of the undergraduate course, 32.63% as an average score in the first semester and 62.87% in the twelfth semester. Discussion: The positive influence of the TPMed on student learning was UNISA’s motivation to overcome the challenges and mobilize the students in the first year in which the test was applied, corroborating their substantial participation. There was a drop in adherence to the ABEM National Progress Test - 2021 by UNISA students, possibly due to technical problems that occurred in its online application. Conclusion: The positive effect of the TPMed was clearly observed in UNISA. This directed work, which emphasized the relevance of the TPMed, is essential for its recognition, and resulted in a strong adhesion of our academics in this evaluation.