Therapeutic itineraries in medical education: a device for teaching Public Health in times of pandemic

Abstract

Abstract: Introduction: The implementation of innovative pedagogical strategies in medical training is the discipline of this experience report. It aims to present the systematization of Therapeutic Itineraries (TI) and the production of Singular Therapeutic Projects (STP) for users of the Brazilian Unified Health System as a learning tool for the teaching of Public Health. Experience report: created based on the experience of teachers and monitors involved with this training in the undergraduate Medical School of Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, between the years 2017 and 2019. The TIs were initially considered from a perspective restricted to the description and analysis of the organization of the health care network (HCN), the access and flows in the services. Based on the debates, contents and production of the STPs, the TIs were revisited in order to contribute to students’ understanding of the relationship between the broader social structure and the individuality of people, their needs and the health care processes. Discussion: The experience, as proposed in its formulation, allowed the articulation of theoretical and practical fields and was a tool that articulated the different programmatic contents proposed in the Discipline of Public Health II. It has also become a viable pedagogical strategy in the real circumstances of offering the discipline, in a context in which Public Health can be more present in professional training. Conclusion: The action-reflection-action process allowed, at first, to recognize the Health Care Network, a structural component of the system. Based on the construction of the STP and the debate on the lines of comprehensive care, it was possible to qualify the analysis. The systematization of TI is a theoretical-methodological approach consolidated in health research and was a tool that showed to be effective for the teaching of Public Health and for learning about the practices and reconfiguration of the work of teachers and monitors on the discipline and, therefore, a permanent education strategy for both students and those responsible for their training.