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Legacy and promises from the teaching of social sciences in the health field

The article analyzes the teaching and learning of social sciences in health sciences courses from the perspective of the curriculum and learning generated by research groups and thesis supervision activities. The author conducts a rereading of the classics and main contemporary scientists, based on the subarea's scientific output and her own personal experience as professor, researcher, and thesis supervisor. The article focuses on the tradition and teaching of the classics in social sciences, the main contemporary social theories, social sciences in health with an emphasis on teaching, and observations on the interface between teaching in social sciences and life sciences. The author concludes by highlighting the importance of work by social scientists in the health field and identifies the following problematic points: difficulties in dealing with mediations between the biological and the social; frequent subordination of foundations to techniques; and ideological and common-sense issues in the teaching and appropriation of social sciences in health.

Social Sciences; Health; Teaching


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