The Education through Work Program for Health/Interprofessionality: experiences of a Medical student

Abstract:

Introduction:   When considering strategies that allow the consolidation of a health system that takes into account the dynamic, diverse and complex characteristics presented by the community, interprofessional education appears as a powerful tool in the training of future professionals, capable of carrying out collaborative work. In this context, the Education through Work Program for Health is highlighted by allowing the exchange of knowledge between students from different courses.

Experience report:   The narrative of events experienced by the medical student intern with a scholarship from the Education through Work Program for Health/Interprofessionality was used as a tool, integrated to the “Consultório na Rua” (“Street Office”) in a city of Rio de Janeiro, an integration that allowed the exercise of interprofessionality in the practical field, an experience that was not limited to interaction with the service physician, although this coexistence was equally invaluable, but which also led to exchanges with workers with different professional backgrounds and students from other courses.

Discussion:  For the collaborative work to occur, it is not enough for workers to share the same space; from this perspective, it is necessary to discuss the effects of interprofessional education on academic training, awakening in these students the desire to work collaboratively and preparing them for the challenge of meeting the needs and demands of the Unified Health System users.

Conclusion:   In Brazilian universities, there are still few activities that are guided by interprofessional education; however, this type of education has the power to bring the student closer to the realities to be faced in the daily life of their future professional practice, based on the teaching-learning process with individuals from different professional backgrounds, so that collaborative work becomes a facilitator when offering the community a high-quality health service.

Keywords: Comprehensive Health Care; Patient-Centered Care; Interprofessional Education; Homeless Persons