Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo (FMUSP), as the headquarter of the regional office for Latin America and the Caribbean of the International Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHCI), co-organized and hosted, on June 22 and 23, 2022, the “Latin America & The Caribbean (LAC) Regional Meeting”.

The purpose of the event was to provide an opportunity for members, guests and other interested participants to reflect on the broad impact of the pandemic on academic centers, care units and society in general. The theme of this edition was: Towards a post-pandemic world: drawing on the lessons of Covid-19.

Association of American Medical Schools (AAMC) director of health, Dr. Janis M. Orlowski, one of the speakers and session coordinator of the event, declared that the meeting with Latin American colleagues at FMUSP was stimulating. “This is an opportunity for us to discuss how to continue advancing the practice of high quality care, the best educational standards and the most innovative research in our academic health centers. We come together in person, for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic, to share our experiences in order to improve global health.”

The various panels highlighted successful activities, missed opportunities and emerging data in order to extract key insights that leaders of academic health centers, systems and communities can incorporate into their ongoing pandemic responses, with the aim of increasing resilience and preparation for future outbreaks.

On the first day, the regional office group met with ambassadors and special guests on the FMUSP Board of Directors and, on the second day, all activities were carried out in the event space of the Radiology Institute (InRad) of the Hospital das Clínicas of FMUSP.

The Vice-Director of FMUSP, Prof. Roger Chammas, highlighted during the meeting that, “researchers need to be intensively trained to change their mindset and have more activities so that they are prepared to respond promptly to new health crises”. The professor also emphasized the relevance of the resident mental health care project carried out in Mexico, which was presented during the event, and the opportunity to exchange experiences between international institutions, professors, students, professionals and everyone who was present in the LAC Regional Meeting at the Faculdade de Medicina.

Professor Valeria Aoki, President of the International Relations Commission (CRInt) at FMUSP, emphasizes that, “the highlights of this meeting were the exchange of experiences - exploring the particularities of different geographic regions, health and education policies in the face of the pandemic, the lessons learned and the legacy for students and healthcare professionals”. She also highlighted the active participation of ambassadors from the regions of the Americas (North, Central and South), as well as from the Middle East, “which provided a rich and fruitful discussion about the experiences of each academic health center”.

Also participating in the Latin America & The Caribbean (LAC) Regional Meeting by FMUSP: Prof. Nelson Gouveia, Vice President of CRInt at FMUSP, and Talita de Almeida, Manager of the LAC Regional Office and Coordinator of the International Office of FMUSP. Also from AAHCI came Alcenia McIntosh-Peters and Habiba Belguedj. From the LAC Regional Office Advisory Group and regional participants were: Christian Blanco Chan, Director of Innovation and Development, Universidad de IberoAmérica (UNIBE), Costa Rica; Rodolfo Enrique Farfan, Head of Hospital Education at the Guayaquil Charitable Board (JBGYE), Ecuador; Dr. Paola Garcia Padilla, representing Rector Carlos Gomez-Restrepo, from the Faculty of Medicine of the Universidad Javeriana, Colombia; Jorge Valdez-Garcia, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (TecSalud) of Mexico; and Silke Weber, Executive Director of the International Office of the Faculty of Medicine of Botucatu, UNESP.