Curriculum integration in the formative assessment of distance continuing medical education: the use of integrative activities

Abstract

Abstract Introduction: The article describes the development and implementation of integrative activities as a formative evaluation of a distance-learning course of preceptorship specialization in Family and Community Medicine and discusses how the use of this activity is capable of integrating and assessing different knowledges, practices and performance of students in this modality of education. The course curriculum involves units with modules in three areas: family and community medicine, preceptorship and clinical practice, allowing the approach of essential topics for the practice of the specialty preceptor, which go beyond the study of pedagogical aspects. Experience report: The student was encouraged to carry out a textual production based on contextualized problems in the Primary Health Care preceptorship, guided by the tutor, aiming to critically reflect on the contents of each teaching unit. Illustrated situations were used in the activity statement, shown in comic strip format, which qualified the interpretation of the context addressed in the activity and promoted greater approximation with the reality experienced by the student. The contextualization of the activity and the exercise of putting oneself in the preceptor’s place were considered positive points by the tutors. Discussion: The student-tutor interaction is a fundamental part of the activity, as it allows the construction of knowledge from an interactionist perspective of education, which is the basis of the pedagogical proposal of the course. The activity allowed the identification of gaps and potentialities in the students’ learning and the implementation of particular pedagogical interventions. Conclusions: This type of activity ensures important dimensions of evaluative work in long-term courses: the procedural and interdisciplinary features. The integrative activity model can be used in distance courses with different disciplines, aiming at integrating them, providing a more in-depth approach and bringing the educational contents closer to the student’s reality.