Stricto sensu postgraduate education in the Brazilian Federal District: the experience of the Higher School of Health Sciences (ESCS).

Introduction: Stricto sensu postgraduate courses were regulated to enhance the training of university professors and researchers in order to attend the expansion of higher education and promote scientific research development. Today, Brazilian postgraduate programs transcend the academic limits, especially after the establishment of professional masters and doctorate programs.

Methods: This is a documentary study, which included ESCS management reports, as well as bibliographic and technical productions.

Results: The ESCS currently provides three postgraduate programs: Professional Masters in Health Sciences, Academic Masters in Health Sciences, and Professional Masters in Family Health (ProfSaúde).

Conclusion: The ESCS experience is an effort to integrate teaching, research and health care in which we should highlight the concern with the development of the interface with public health policies. However, the institutional environment is complex because ESCS is a higher education institution linked to a State Health Secretariat, which supports the full development of the critical, creative and humanistic potential of professors and students. However, this challenges the scientific consistency and disruptive nature of their products and processes.