Abstract:
The need for readjustment of health professional training has required approaches between universities, health services and demands of the population. In this direction, the Program for Reorientation of Health Professional Training (Pro-Health) seeks to encourage the accomplishment of the health curriculum guidelines in undergraduate courses through an articulation between school and health services. This study investigated the development of this program within a university context. Data on the Pro-Health experience of a private university (2008-2011) were collected through interviews, participant observation, and analysis of institutional documents, focussing on the teacher's perception of the management, the conditions of participation and the implementation process of the project. Content analysis showed the usual tensions within health education, which, however, were intensified as the program strengthened the relationships between university, market and professional identity. It also evidenced how the Pro-Health policies induce changes in health education and how the program was restricted trough the terms of the labor contract of the professors of private universities. The study also highlights the need to monitor the projects and to make continuous investments, to expand the dissemination of information and to share projects between municipalities and universities, as well the adoption of a change management methodology to monitor the development processes of the projects and, in this manner, making possible the revision of strategies of reorientation of health training.
Key words:
Higher education institutions; Teaching-care integration; Health professional training