Interprofessional and interdisciplinary dialogues in university extension: A pathway towards incorporating a broader concept of health into academic education

Abstract

This article discusses the importance of interdisciplinary and interprofessional health education, based on the understanding that it is not possible to achieve a broad perspective of health through disciplinary and uniprofessional teaching. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted with students from two universities participating in an extension activity in an agricultural reform settlement in the State of Bahia, Brazil. Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed using content analysis. The findings show that extension activities have the potential to transform the education and training process from both a professional and personal perspective. It was concluded that extension activities enable the construction of new spaces where it is possible to promote interaction between and sharing of knowledge and collaboration.