Policies for expanding access to higher education and changing the profile of medical graduates in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

This study assesses the effectiveness of policies to expand access to higher education in re-ducing inequities in the profile of graduates from medical courses in Brazil. This work consists of a cross-sectional study using data from the 2018 Higher Education Census. Analyses were carried out to identify the association between being a beneficiary of the Quota Law, the University for All Program, or the Student Financing Fund and three markers: born in a small-sized municipality, being non-white, or having attended high school in a public school. Analyses were performed using Pearson???s chi-square test, and multivariate analy-sis was conducted using Poisson regression. A sig-nificant association was found between being a beneficiary of these policies and being a non-white graduate, who was born in a small town and who had studied in a public high school. All policies presented adjusted Prevalence Ratio (PR), which demonstrated an association with statistical sig-nificance. The Quota Law was the most effective policy, with RP=1.92 for non-white graduates, RP=6.66 for having studied in a public high scho-ol, and RP=1.08 for being born in a small town. Despite these results, these groups remain underre-presented in medical courses and in the workforce.