Symposium 20: Bachelor of Biochemistry in Brazil – Current overview and challenges of the Biochemistry course at UFSJ

• Autor(a) principal: Cesar Russo Chagas, Rafael
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Ensino de Bioquímica
• Texto Completo: http://bioquimica.org.br/revista/ojs/index.php/REB/article/view/836
• topic: Undergraduate course in biochemistry; curricular structure; biochemical carrier

Symposium – 20Bachelor of Biochemistry in Brazil Chair: Bayardo B. Torres, IQ-USPThe undergraduate course of Biochemistry at Federal University of S‹o Jo‹o del-Rei was created in 2007 aimed at allowing a broad theoretical and practical basis on the various areas of biochemistry and its relationship with environment and society. In addition to the basic knowledge, our course offers an emphasis in the field of biotechnology, ensuring a greater possibility of giving graduates greater insertion in the labor market. Around 73% of the graduates have opted to remain in the academic field, being accepted in postgraduate programs at master's and doctoral level in several institutions in Brazil and abroad. The course has undergone two curriculum changes, with one in finalize. However, even after 10 years of existence, the main difficulty faced by the course is the lack of visibility of the biochemist by society, although the incoming students already know the course, different from 10 years ago. In Brazil, people still confuse the course of biochemistry with a course of clinical analysis, which entails problems in the insertion of our students in biotechnology companies. Other concerns are high dropout and repetition within the course, often caused by problems in the training of entrants at the secondary grade. To solve these problems, it is necessary to invest in a greater visibility of the course, in relation to companies of biotechnological bases, as in relation to the population in general, making the course more attractive. Attempts to increase the risk of studies by the course involve the insertion of the practices of entrepreneurship within the curricular units.