Sao Paulo – In October last year, a joint ministerial decree from the federal government set a 23% readjustment in health resident grants effective January 1. However, residents who are paid by the state of São Paulo will not earn the increase, as specified by the state health department.
In a letter sent to the São Paulo State Physicians Syndicate (Simesp), the ministry informed that “the joint ministerial decree does not interfere with the public administration of the state” and that “if there is an amendment, it will take place when this federal entity decides.”
The document was signed by members of the Legal Aid and Human Resources Offices of the State Department of Health, on February 16.
The union contacted the Secretariat about the readjustment after paying the January grants, in which residents realized they got the same amount they did in 2021, according to the union.
According to the federal decree, grants to resident physicians and occupational health residents should rise from R$3,330.43 to R$4106.09. The value has not been adjusted since 2016.
Residents of the official SES re-adjust by Hendara
This created a discrepancy in grants between residents within the same institutions. Residents of the Hospital das Clínicas, School of Medicine, University of the South Pacific reported that those who got it through the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Education, for example, won the bonus. Those funded by the state grant remain with the lowest wages.
The source of funding depends on availability at the time residents are accepted, so they do not choose whether the federal or state government will pay.
The lack of adjustment in São Paulo surprised residents, said Augusto Ribeiro, psychiatric resident and director of Simesp. “Resident does not choose who the source of payment is. He enrolls in the residency program, and the source of funding for the program has already been determined. In 2016, we went through the same situation, and the state government only made an adjustment when residents staged a strike. We consider this illegal because the federal government is that regulate rewards, as well as other accommodation guidelines.
On a note, the State Department of Health stated: “SP is the state with the largest medical residency program in the country, with 62% of these professionals receiving scholarships funded exclusively by the state treasury. Currently the federal government pays the smallest portion of these scholarships. All will receive The state’s 6,500 residents will receive R$4,100 from March, when they will also receive the retroactive amount for January and February.”
