Distance learning education and practice in surgery: challenges and reflexions

Abstract

In the last years there has been a great and exponential expansion of distance educational courses (undergraduate, postgraduate, lato ou stricto sensu, or in sequential bases) taking place in institutions with different juridical conceptions (public, private, confessional or communitarian). In fact it was the approval of the Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação (LDB) from the Ministério da Educação that encouraged the development of the distance education learning modality. However it is necessary to understand the existence of challenges to be overcome, especially when that innovation will be applied to the surgical field.