[Comparative analysis of the social base of the medical and nursing professions in Brazil from 2000 to 2010].

The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in the 2000s in the social base of the medical and nursing professions in Brazil, as a result of the expansion of higher education in the country beginning in the late 1990s. The article begins with a descriptive analysis of the social base of recruitment, drawing on data from the socioeconomic questionnaire of the National Student Performance Exam in 2004 and 2010, for incoming and graduating students in medicine and nursing. Next, it analyzes the social base of certified physicians and nurses, using data from the 2000 and 2010 Population Censuses. The results show that there was an expansion in the social base of recruitment in both professions, especially an increase in students from low-income families and those self-identified as black or brown. The social base of certified physicians and nurses underwent a reconfiguration, characterized by rejuvenation and a decrease in work market remuneration. The two processes were experienced differently within and between the professions, highlighting the existence of differences in the respective professional groups' capacity to mobilize resources proper to the professional world and that can guarantee special positions in the work market and in social structure.