From November 7th to December 6th, the Section of Clinical Parasitology from the Clinical Pathology Division hosted a Malaria internship, in which two pathology residents from Portugal were part of: doctors Ana Raquel A. Vieira and Maria Teresa P. T. de Melo.

According to both, their decision of coming to Unicamp Hospital was made based on the fact that our Hospital is a national reference, as well as international – it is also accredited by SUCEN (Superintendence of Endemics Control) as the responsible and reference for diagnosis of malaria in the region.

The internship goal was to better prepare them for the future challenges that the emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases pose, with malaria being the most prevalent – considering that Portugal has been faced with the increase of malaria cases due to recent migratory phenomenon from endemic areas in Africa. Another goal within this internship was to have them experience a different laboratorial reality other than their original one, giving them additional knowledge over the study of pathologies that are not common in the São João Hospital, in Porto, Portugal – where both work.

According to them, the internship exceeded their expectations. “I really enjoyed participating in this internship, because I had the opportunity to learn a lot of theoretical content, but more importantly to practice in the diagnosis of malaria”, Ana Raquel said. While Maria Teresa, added: “The internship revealed to be extremely important, since we met very well prepared people, with very good scientific value and, above all, always ready to share their knowledge. It was a very good experience, highly enriching from the scientific point of view and that will for sure make the difference in my preparation as a Clinical Pathologist.”