Sistema Regional de Información
en línea para Revistas Científicas de América Latina,
el Caribe, España y Portugal

In many countries there are initiatives of adapting the medical training to the needs of the health systems. In Brazil, the More Doctors Program (Programa Mais Médicos, in Portuguese) introduced the most recent changes, establishing a new regulatory framework in the medical training, which is expressed in the National Syllabus Guidelines, emphasizing the development of professional abilities in primary health care. In the present study, we tried to analyze the social representations of medicine students about the work in primary health care within the context of the implementation of the aforementioned guidelines. In order to do so, 149 medicine students from ‘traditional’ and ‘new’ public courses in the Northeastern region of Brazil answered a sociodemographic questionnaire and a free evocation script in the second semester of 2017. The results show a student profile that corresponds to the ‘first university student generation’ of the ‘new schools’. In these schools, the social representations of the medicine students are more in line with the new guidelines, with an emphasis on the evocation of terms such as ‘bond,’ ‘responsibility’ and ‘community.’ In the ‘traditional’ schools, the terms that stood out the most were ‘underappreciation,’ and ‘precariousness,’ which suggests that these students do not have enough experience in primary health care. We hope that the innovative experiences that were analyzed can be multiplied and deepened in the radicality needed for the strengthening of the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde, in Portuguese), with training that is in line with the social needs.

This study sought to understand the coexistence between students, professors, and professionals at basic health units. This was a qualitative research study with a hermeneutic phenomenological approach, based on the philosophical theoretical frameworks of Martin Heidegger and carried out with students, network services professionals, and professors monitoring students in their activities at basic health units in the metropolitan area of a large city in southern Brazil. Data were collected through recorded interviews guided by a list of questions from November 2013 to March 2015. Participants, totaling 23 respondents, were selected intentionally. Coexistence among students, professors, and professionals at the basic health unit proved to be permeated by different ways of being. They unveiled conflicts related to language, specifically in verbalization and listening. This relationship was recognized as important for teaching-learning and for reflections on adjustments in the work process.

This article presents the results attained in a study conducted to verify the perception of community health workers in the city of Palmas, state of Tocantins, Brazil, on the technical training they received. A descriptive survey was carried out using a questionnaire comprising 24 questions drafted to obtain personal data from a sample of 63 Technical Health School of Tocantins graduates and trace their occupational career before, during, and after they took the course. It was found that the graduates entered the job market in an occupation related to a technical area and that, early on in their careers, they were not seen as health care workers. Over the years, they have been standing out for the relevant social role they have played in their communities. Now, they are acknowledged professionally as community health workers and for their importance as links between the community and the health unit. Their technical training made a great contribution to their professional performance, but opportunities for promotions are limited.

This study aimed to investigate the opinions and knowledge on oral health among 2009 graduates in Education at the city of Araçatuba (state of São Paulo). To this end, a semi-structured interview was carried out to address the views of the students about education in oral health and their know-ledge concerning aspects related to tooth decay, to Preventive Dentistry, and Dentistry in early childhood. Of a universe of 120 students, 92 (76.6%) agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 86.8% of the students believe that the teacher should act as an educator in oral health, and 92.4% consider it important to integrate with healthcare professionals. Nine percent and 34.8%, respectively, provided correct answers about the concepts of dental plaque and cavities. On the appearance of cavities and about the possibility of having healthy teeth for life, 67% and 83.7%, responded correctly, respectively. Graduates in Education have positive opinions regarding Education in Oral Health; however, they have insufficient know-ledge on the subject, particularly considering they will be future teachers and opinion leaders.

In addition to being a working tool to provide care to people, domiciliary visits can also be used as a teaching strategy in the health area. An exploratory, descriptive, and qualitative study was carried out among eight physiotherapy interns making domiciliary visits at a Family Health Strategy unit and aimed to understand the meanings attributed to this type of health care activity in their learning process. The study used the focal group technique, which was recorded and transcribed for further data analysis and interpretation by means of a thematic analysis, which gave rise to three guiding themes: The experience of the domiciliary visits in primary care and the reorientation of the vocational training of the physical therapist; basic care and domiciliary visits in terms of the humanization of the physical therapy activity; and the reinterpretation of domiciliary visits in building learning. It is concluded that domiciliary visits are an important educational tool in the physiotherapy students' learning process; however, to effectively bring change to the training and health care models, it must be combined with other activities in the care network, such as group activities, participation in campaigns and joint efforts in health and in the local health board, among others.

The article analyzes the insertion of mid-level administrative professionals in health services aiming at discussing the roles they play in the power structures and relations that make up such institutions. Data are presented concerning the workers' understanding of their roles and the relations they envision between their work processes and the management of the Unified Health System. The study was carried out in a health region of the city of Rio de Janeiro, and involved mapping the middle-level administrative work processes at the different public health institutions in this territory. In total, 44 semi-structured interviews were conducted, covering the different processes that were identified. The results show that decision-making prioritization is associated with the devaluation of these professionals, who see themselves as mere implementers of definitions set out by higher hierarchical levels. We conclude that instrumental administrative rationality remains hegemonic in the territory. These aspects lead to reflection on whether or not it is possible to further consolidate SUS without the active participation of the social actors involved in building it, among whom we highlight the administrative agents due to the strategic role they play in the management processes.

The purpose of this article is to contribute to the understanding of the relationship between hygienism and education in the early decades of the 20th century in Brazil. For this, an analysis was made of the discourse of the hygienist physician show-cased in the theses of the 1st National Conference on Education, organized by the Brazilian Association of Education in Curitiba, Paraná, in 1927, mostly using the books titled "Os anormais" (The freaks) (2002) and "A ordem do discurso" (The order of discourse) (2009), both authored by French philosopher Michel Foucault. The examination of theses, as well as the review of the literature in the history of education, led to the realization that, in the 1920s, physicians, intellectuals, and politicians intended to form national awareness on hygiene focused on the progress of the country, establishing concern with the population's physical, mental, and social health.

This article discusses the continuing education experiences of Brazilians social workers in labor situations that involve health matters. Based on a thematic focus that brings together education and work, it presents the results of an investigation that sought to unveil the social workers' educational experiences and to determine to what extent socio-occupational spaces can serve as a locus to produce know-ledge and training. In the course of this investigation, the concern of drawing training contexts closer to the situations faced in work was not based on understanding adaptability, rather on a critical approach concerned with the education processes in collective work situations. Thus, the narratives that emerged in focus groups conducted during the research process with social workers who work in the field of collective health in Porto Alegre, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, unravel the educational process taking place in these professionals' practice in the health policy.

The general purpose of this study was to examine the effect of training on the acquisition of values in health education among Vila Real Nursing School students, Northern Region, in Trásos-Montes and in Alto Douro, in the municipality of Vila Real, Lordelo, Portugal, compared to those taking other courses. This is a descriptive, comparative, and transverse study. In total, 709 students from seven colleges took place in this research project, and an attempt was made to include authors intervening in the health education process, who replied to a self-completion questionnaire in the period ranging from October to December 2004. Most participants (86.5 percent) believe health education has values to promote, and 'responsibility' is the best value to 19.2 percent of the students. The study showed that it is in the nursing courses that most progress is made in terms of values, with highly significant differences (p < 0.001). Additionally, it also revealed that the 4th year students' average was higher than the 1st year's. These results are evidence of the need there is, in such courses, to work on the values underlying the process, which are so necessary for the performance of these professions.

Agave salmiana L., es una planta con alto valor agroecológico, agroindustrial y gastronómico, sin embargo, su propagación tradicional por hijuelos reduce su variabilidad genética. El objetivo de esta investigación fue evaluar la acumulación de materia seca, clorof ila total y algunos compuestos nitrogenados como respuesta a la aplicación foliar de quitosano en plántulas de A. salmiana. El estudio se realizó en el Instituto Tecnológico Superior de Huichapan, México. El diseño experimental fue completamente al azar con 10 repeticiones. Se evaluaron cinco dosis foliares de quitosano (mg L-1) (0.10, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 y 1.0), donde T0 corresponde al testigo (agua destilada). Los parámetros evaluados fueron altura de planta, diámetro del tallo, número de hojas, longitud y volumen radicular, materia seca, clorof ila total, nitrógeno total y nitratos. La aplicación foliar de 0.75 y 1.0 g L-1 incrementaron la altura de planta, diámetro de tallo, número de hojas, longitud y volumen de raíz. Sin embargo, la dosis de 0.5 g L-1 también mostró efecto signif icativo en la altura de planta y el diámetro de tallo. Por otro lado, los tratamientos con 0.5, 0.75 y 1.0 mg L-1 mostraron los valores más altos de clorof ila total, nitrógeno total y nitratos, aunque la acumulación de materia seca, solo fue signif icativa con la dosis de 1.0 mg L-1. La aplicación foliar de quitosano es una alternativa que podría ayudar a mejorar algunas de las características morfof isiologicas en plántulas de A. salmiana, una especie endémica de México.