The Postgraduate Program in Surgery was implemented in 1973 by Prof. Salomão Kelmer at Master's level and for almost two decades, the course has evolved with B and A concepts when evaluated by the Brazil Federal Education Council. At the beginning of the 90s, the program was renamed Postgraduate Program in Surgery (PPGC-UFPE), with Master's and Doctorate levels. The Program was accredited by the CTC of the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), with grade four and remained that way in subsequent periods. The first group of doctors from the PPGC-UFPE graduated in 2000.

             In the last 20 years, the following Professors have been coordinators of the PPGC-UFPE: Carlos Teixeira Brandt; José Lamartine de Andrade Aguiar; Álvaro Antônio Bandeira Ferraz; Rodrigo Pessoa Cavalcanti Lira and Thiago Freire Pinto Bezerra.  Currently is coordinated by Professor Esdras Marques Lins. More recently, the PPGC-UFPE became a multidisciplinary and multiprofessional program, including among its Professors and students, professionals from different areas, such as biomedicine, physical education, nursing, physiotherapy, medicine, nutrition and dentistry.

            Since its foundation, PPGC-UFPE has trained Professors and researchers to work in the most diverse institutions in Brazil. His current lines of research are: Clinical and experimental application of sugarcane biopolymers, Pathophysiological bases of the surgical treatment of morbid obesity and metabolic syndrome, Carcinogenesis, Clinical and experimental investigation in ophthalmology, Clinical and experimental investigation in otorhinolaryngology, Congenital malformations and  Rare Syndromes besides Diagnostic and therapeutic methods in surgery.