EAT group founded at UFLA: fostering new grounds in a young medical school

From left to right: Prof. Dr. Cynthia, students Luiza and Daiana, Prof. Dr. Vitor, students Luana, Kalyne and Amanda. School of Medicine at Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Brazil.

EAT was recently launched at Federal University of Lavras (UFLA), Brazil. Our interview with Daiana, who leads the local group, follows below.

Daiana, please introduce yourself and tell us what motivated you to found EAT at UFLA.

My name is Daiana Godoy, 22 years old, and I am in my second year of medical school at Federal University of Lavras (UFLA). I am interested in issues related to preventive medicine, particularly, in the issue of smoking due to the fact that tobacco is the major cause of preventable deaths in Brazil. In addition, I have a strong interest in scientific research and I like to act within the community – all of it can be provided by EAT initiatives.

The School of Medicine at UFLA has been founded recently. In this particular scenario, do you think EAT can contribute to shape the medical formation locally?

Yes, I believe that EAT will expand the academic perspectives not only of EAT-UFLA members, but also of all students within our institution. UFLA School of Medicine was founded in 2015 and EAT will definitely serve as a model for us to develop other effective community-based and research programs driven by medical students. In this scenario, EAT offers the promise of change that will resonate throughout the history of our medical school.

Daiana, what is the smoking prevalence in your city among adolescents?

There are no studies evaluating this prevalence in our city (Lavras). As part of our EAT activities, we are considering the possibility of collecting and releasing these data in the future. Through informal qualitative investigation with local teachers, we think that the local smoking prevalence is greater than 15%. Regarding smoking experimentation, recent studies in nearby cities have found prevalence as high as 51%.

What are the next steps to effectively start the EAT project at UFLA?

The project EAT/UFLA has already been registered and approved by the Extension Office of our university, which will offer support for our interventions. We are now in the training phase of our team so that we plan to start our actions in the community soon. We are excited with the activities to be developed – we consider EAT to be a unique opportunity for boosting our academic skills.

More information about EAT/UFLA: https://educationtobacco.org/brazil-ufla

More information about EAT-Brazil: https://educationtobacco.org/brazil