In order to comply with Brazilian Syllabus requirements, some schools of Pharmacy included Rural Internships (RI) in the curriculum as a way of familiarizing students with the Unified Health System (SUS), thereby permitting the interaction of the students with pharmaceutical practices. This work assesses the knowledge about SUS and pharmaceutical activities of students who have taken the RI subject at the schools of Pharmacy of the UFMG. The information gathered was acquired by means of Focus Groups (FG), one before and another immediately after the field experience. Eight students participated in the FG at both stages. The questionnaire of the FG included: concept of the SUS, the activities of the professional in public health and the expectation of the students about the RI. The processing of the information was done by content analysis. It was revealed at both stages the students were unaware of the concepts and principles of SUS. However, after returning from the RI, the students used words like "access," "universal right" and "health promotion." Students were unaware of the activities of the pharmacist in the service and the pharmaceutical care was not mentioned. The data analysis revealed the low level of knowledge of the students about SUS. Nevertheless, they considered RI a motivational curriculum subject for future performance in SUS.
Pharmacist; Pharmacy education; SUS; Rural Internship