History
Founded in 1954 and based in Fortaleza, the Federal University of Ceará has undergone a continuous process of expansion and academic restructuring since joining the Federal Universities’ Restructuring and Expansion Program (REUNI) in 2007, both through the consolidation of campuses in the countryside and the creation and consolidation of academic centers in the capital, such as the Institute of Physical Education and Sports (IEFES), thus increasing the number of undergraduate and graduate seats offered.
At the same time, UFC has created more than 30 undergraduate programs, including the physiotherapy program (2009), which is linked to the Faculty of Medicine – FAMED.
This process of expansion was aimed at universalizing the possibilities of access to public, free and high-quality higher education, including graduate programs, for the entire population of Ceará, in accordance with the Institutional Development Plan – PDI, which has as one of its objectives “to stimulate the creation of new graduate programs that meet regional and national needs”.
This proposal for a Master Program in Physiotherapy and Functioning in the Department of Physiotherapy is based on the expertise of the Federal University of Ceará. The implementation of a Master Program in Physiotherapy and Functioning to serve the northernmost region of the Northeast will have an indirect impact on the improvement of the quality of life of the inhabitants of the region.
According to INEP (National Institute for Educational Studies and Research), there are approximately 722 physiotherapy programs in Brazil. Of these, 167 are located in the Northeast. In Ceará, there are 22 undergraduate programs, 14 in the capital and 8 in the countryside. As for physical education programs there are approximately 1452, of which 237 are in the Northeast. In Ceará, there are 35 programs, 20 in the capital and 15 in the countryside (INEP, 2017).
This number of undergraduate programs in physiotherapy and physical education in the Northeast, especially in the state of Ceará, highlighted the need to create a graduate program in the capital of Ceará, since there were only three academic master’s programs in physiotherapy in the Northeast of Brazil (Natal-RN; Recife-PE; Santa Cruz-RN) and one doctoral program (Natal-RN). Regarding graduate programs in physical education, according to the Sucupira platform, there are six academic master’s programs (Natal-RN; São Cristóvão-SE; Petrolina-PE; Recife-PE; João Pessoa-PB and São Luís-MA), two professional master’s programs (Natal-RN and Recife-PE) and two doctoral programs (Recife-PE and João Pessoa-PB) in CAPES area 21 (physical education, physiotherapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy).
The implementation of a Master Program in Physiotherapy and Functioning in Ceará was extremely important to meet the qualification needs of the more than 6,000 physiotherapists and 11,000 physical education professionals in the State of Ceará, working in public and private health networks, as well as professionals working independently in the most diverse scenarios, serving the population of 8,843 million people in Ceará.
Satisfying the demand of CAPES Area 21 for graduate programs in physiotherapy and physical education has had the full support of the University’s higher administration. The continuous institutional efforts have allowed the integration of the research developed in Ceará into the socioeconomic reality of our region, as well as a greater international integration (PDI 2018-2022). In this sense, UFC, represented by its teachers from the Department of Physiotherapy and the Institute of Physical Education and Sports, proposed the Master Program in Physiotherapy and Functioning (PPGFisio).
