Approved on July 16, 2025, the new decision by the National Medical Residency Commission (CNRM) establishes the RQE (Specialist Qualification Registration) as a requirement for physicians to enter a new residency program. This measure aims to broaden access for specialist physicians to subspecialty residencies through the RQE, rather than solely through residency itself.
In this article, you will gain a better understanding of what this decision entails and how it may impact your medical career.
What is RQE?
The Specialist Qualification Registration (RQE) is the registration granted by the Federal Council of Medicine to physicians who have completed a specialization through medical residency or have passed a certification exam.
What changes in practice?
Until September 2025, when the new decision came into effect, prior training in a direct-entry medical residency program was required as a prerequisite for selection processes to enter a second specialization. In other words, the only way to enter a new residency was through completion of the base specialization.
This happened because postgraduate certificates were not considered valid to prove the prerequisite, since a lato sensu is not considered equivalent to a medical residency.
What has changed is that doctors who have earned their specialist titles and therefore their RQE (Specialist Qualification Registration), can now enter a new specialization through medical residency even without having previously completed a residency in their base medical specialty.
In other words, currently, the only prerequisite for entering a medical subspecialty residency program is possessing the Specialist Qualification Registration (RQE), whether obtained through residency or certification exam.
Medical postgraduate studies
Despite the new decision, medical postgraduate studies are still not considered equivalent to residency, but they are part of the process a doctor must go through to obtain their specialist title via the certification exam.
Although many prejudices still exist regarding postgraduate medical studies, they function as an alternative to medical residency, and their quality and reliability depend on the educational institution.
At São Leopoldo Mandic, one of the best private educational institutions in the country, themedical postgraduate 's main commitment is to in-depth theoretical teaching and complete practical experience, with care provided to real patients, selected according to the course modules.
Click here to learn about the medical postgraduate courses at São Leopoldo Mandic!
The information used to construct this article was obtained from the official website of the Ministry of Education, updated to the date of publication, and is subject to change.
