Prof. Doutor José Fernandes e Fernandes
Director of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon organizes, as usual, a ceremony to greet its new students.

On this occasion I would like to fist congratulate you for what continues to be the achievement of entering medical school, and, on behalf of the Faculty of Medicine, its lecturers and employees, welcome you and wish you all the best while you are with us.

This is the right occasion to talk about your choice and the reason why you wish to be doctors, about what medicine is today and in the near future, and also about the responsibilities, duties and rights inherent to the medical profession, which someone described as “the greatest benefit to mankind”.

Introduction Week is a kind of crash course about medicine, the faculty, the teaching, and what is expected of you. It intends to open your horizons and awaken you to culture and the arts and show you the distinct opportunities that medical training offers. In addition, it aims to raise your awareness to the other dimension of life that is so important in medicine and that has been the hallmark of the physicians who, within our community, knew how to honour the Science and the Art: I am referring to Altruism, to the Duty of not only to Do Well but also to Do Good Things.

In addition to offering you professional education and technical training, our goal is to contribute to your Higher Education and to educate your mind, and its prime objective is, as Ortega y Gasset wrote” to train cultivated men and women who have a clear conception of the world, of the character and limits of science, and of the historical evolution of mankind”.

This is the first priority of the university and the first challenge I pose to you: the education of the mind, the acquisition of culture and knowledge so that you can be attentive and well-informed citizens and therefore may contribute, in consequence, to the progress of society.
The opportunity is yours: do not waste it, do not be indifferent, be demanding, and keep your minds thirsty and open to science and culture in its multiple expressions.

It is essential that you know that culture, the capacity to understand the world and people in its astonishing diversity is a major and indispensable asset to the practice of good medicine.
A good doctor should be cultured, because only then can he or she understand sick persons in the fullness of their humanity and thereby act on it, treating the patients and relieving their suffering.

Medicine is a science, but it is also an art because it deals with the unpredictability of the human phenomenon; it has to accept the uncertainty that comes from the still insufficient knowledge of life, of the essential mechanisms of disease. Just remember our ignorance and our endless quest to cure diseases like cancer, AIDS and other degenerative diseases of the circulatory and nervous systems, which so tragically mark contemporary life.

As a science, it is the youngest of them all. But it is not an exact science, like mathematics and other natural sciences.
The foundations and fundamentals of scientific medicine are cell and molecular biology, anatomy of the human body, biochemistry, physiology, immunology, and genetics. These are subjects that you will start studying now to enable you to have the knowledge that is essential to understand diseases and their mechanisms, patients, their reactions and adaptation to organ and mental dysfunction.
This knowledge is essential; do not demean it!

Your will be studying a degree that is different and which, therefore, will require a new attitude from you.

The degree will require you to mentality relate topics and subjects, and not just memorize the themes for the final exam and to have a good mark, only to forget about everything you learned the following day.
The exams will be integrated and adjusted to the teaching model, as we tried to reduce the huge burden of assessments we had to face.

We ask you to have a participatory and demanding attitude and mind-set and that you are up-to-date with the topics taught daily, not leaving your revisions to the pre-examination period, whereby ending up studying hastily and sloppily.

Another objective is to stimulate your scientific curiosity along the degree. Accordingly, we have created optional routes where you can carry out a supervised research project to initiate you in the practice of science and that may eventually awaken your interest.

A good doctor is the one who knows how to combine scientific knowledge with the art of the profession, that is, with the ability to understand the patient as a whole person and who acts with humanity, dedication and spirit of mission. These are the true attributes, the “ethos” of the medical profession.
One can only diagnose and treat what one knows, has studied and learned. Accordingly, I never tire of repeating that the medical degree not only is difficult, but it needs to be so, because ignorance is unacceptable in medicine: otherwise, it would be like betraying the vocation and the core values of the medical profession.

Therefore, I propose a mutual commitment:

For our part, we will try to do our best to offer you quality education, to assist you in your academic and personal development, and to broaden your horizons with enthusiasm and motivation.
From you, we hope that you comply with a set of ethical standards that shape the moral and professional responsibilities of medical students and which I invite you to meditate on and internalize:

Duty of cooperation and loyalty among yourselves and towards your lecturers.
Commitment and dedication to your academic life, which presupposes the duty to be on time for the educational activities, involvement, honesty, and moral integrity in your daily activities.
Respect your lecturers and yourselves, which will prevent unacceptable actions of disloyalty, whether in terms of attendance or in assessment tests; i.e. responsible, attentive and engaged conduct in all the activities you are involved in.
Fulfilment of your academic obligations: the motto I propose is “perfection is the goal, but excellence will be tolerated”
Do remember that your action will take place in health institutions, hospitals and health centres, dealing with patients, and that this fact requires you to comply with a set of duties that constitute the ethical and moral heritage of the medical profession:

Respect for patients, their intimacy and integrity, and for their families
Duty of confidentiality in everything that involves patients and clinical activity
Show understanding, humanity and honesty in the contact with patients and all distinct health professionals, never exceeding the limits of your action as students
Have a well-presented and clean look, show respect for the silence and tranquillity indispensable in health institutions and necessary for patients
Avoid equivocal situations and intimacy with patients in the exercise of your activity

I reiterate my wishes for your success and happiness.

Be ambitious, aim high and be happy.