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SUMMARY

Campos JJB de. Teaching public health in medical schools: a case study
in three universities in Paraná. [thesis]. São Paulo: Faculdade de Medicina,
Universidade de São Paulo; 2009. 317p.

Historically, different concepts of Public Health have influenced the specific
teaching of this field of knowledge as well as medical education. The objective
of this paper is to study the teaching of Public Health in medical schools,
focusing on its structure and implications in curriculum design in three
universities in Paraná - Brazil: State University of Londrina (UEL), Federal
University of Paraná (UFPR) and the Positivo University (UnicenP). The
research questions focused on the content of Public Health selected in their
respective curricula, the teaching-learning relationships, program emphasis
and the partnerships established with public health services. Qualitative
research data collection from the perspective of key informants was carried out
based on the analysis of pedagogical projects and on how they were
effectively experienced. Eleven managers and 18 teachers were interviewed
and 4 focus groups with students were developed in the three universities.
Outcomes showed the presence of between 5% to 20% of Public Health
themes in the course syllabi, depending on the teaching strategies used.
However, they always appeared associated with academic issues strongly
linked to health services, which were strengthened by the local development of
the Comprehensive Health Care System in the two cities, Curitiba and
Londrina in which studies were carried out. Public Health is present and very
relevant in the curriculum required for doctors’ qualification regardless of the
characteristics of the university studied, the bureaucratic and academic course
structures and the different methods for hiring teachers. Besides not being a
main articulator axis in two of the medical courses studied, Public Health
provides the necessary balance for the technical dimension of medical
knowledge, represented by the awareness of the challenges and commitment
to the reality. On the contrary, because of the complexity of medical
education, the strong presence of Public Health in the other medical course
studied not necessarily guarantees the ideal qualification of the medical
professional.

KEYWORDS: Curriculum. Education, Medical. Education, Public Health.
Medical, Undergraduate. Education, Higher. Health education.