The pedagogical strategy for the Master´s Program in Collective Health (PPGSC) draws from the most current tendencies in the area of Collective Health and Health Education. The State University of Feira de Santana has 14 years of teaching experience using new didactic models, including the use of problematization methodologies, such as Problem-based learning (PBL). Furthermore, other experiences at the postgraduate, undergraduate and extension levels, including the insertion of students from the Education Ministry (MEC) Tutorial Education Program (PET) in teaching staff research projects, have helped form master´s graduates committed to the goal of integrating professional practices with research and the care and management models required by the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS).
It is not possible to speak of individual transformation and citizen awareness without a political project that seeks the transformation of practices at an undergraduate level, or earlier. As such, master´s students are encouraged to work as scholarship funded scientific initiation research fellows in projects devised and coordinated by common supervisors, in which the same objective can be studied using different methodologies and disciplines. This new modus operandi has brought several benefits, such as the optimization of material and human resources, funding approval from diverse agencies, structuring of projects into sub-projects with responsibilities divided between distinct groups, and the creation of new dialogues between researchers from within the same program as well as from external institutions. The objective being to overcome distinct backgrounds and construct unity from diversity.
A highlight of the pedagogical proposal of the PPGSC at UEFS are the curricular activities Teacher Training and Didactics for Healthcare.
The activities developed in the Teacher Training program seek to introduce the master´s students to themes crucial to their formation as future health professionals (doctors, nurses, dental surgeons, physical education teachers, among others). The Training seeks to transform the process of qualifying human resources for the Brazilian Public Health System (SUS) through the knowledge produced in the PPGSC (the analysis of situational determinants for population groups, as well as processes for the formulation, implementation, planning and administration of health policy, systems, services and practices). In turn, the teacher training activity stimulates among undergraduates an interest in participating in the research conducted by the Master´s students, as volunteers and scholarship holders. Many undergraduate students also develop an end of course project linked to themes addressed in the Teacher Training program.
The Teacher Training has also stimulated the interest of the PPGSC students in teaching, by promoting experiences in theoretical classes as well as providing real and contextually relevant practical activities. Through the fundamental rationale of research-based learning, the integration of teaching, service and community in the postgraduate course has helped to create a closer relationship among diverse professionals across different levels and fields. In other words, the future master´s graduates recognize that research is fundamental to the acquisition of all necessary abilities and competencies, and that it provides the base for all teaching activities.
The efforts undertaken in this activity have also contributed to the redefinition of the disciplines in which the master´s students participate, especially in reference to the practical content and subsequent critical reflections concerning the local reality. As already mentioned, the teacher training is guided by a member of the program´s teaching staff and by the teacher responsible for each discipline in which the student participates. Furthermore, the theoretical and methodological content necessary for a suitable performance in teaching training is offered in the discipline Applied Health Teaching. After completing this subject, the student is ready to participate in the training. At the end of the training period, the student must present a report detailing activities undertaken to their supervisor. The teachers responsible for the subjects in which the master´s student participated will also present a report regarding the performance of the student.
In this way, the teacher training program has made an important contribution to strengthening the field of Collective Health at UEFS at an undergraduate level and its impact can be measured by the class planning and intervention proposals developed by master´s students during this period of teacher training.