Ethical education of health professionals: The contributions of an interprofessional experience

Abstract

We conducted a qualitative study aimed at understanding the influence of an extracurricular interprofessional academic experience on the ethical education of health students. Narrative interviews were conducted with participants of the Experiences and Internships in Reality Program in the Brazilian National Health System (VER-SUS). We performed a thematic content analysis of the interview narratives, drawing on moral education theories. The following analytical categories were identified: “intentionality of activities”; “interpersonal relations and features of the educational process”; and “ethical reflections”. The findings show that the values underpinning intentionality and characterizing the activities are essential for the reflexivity that influences the construction of moral and ethical identities. The findings also indicate directions for a university committed not only to professional education, but also to the integral education of the human being, proposing the maintenance of the VER-SUS and promotion of the implementation/expansion of interprofessional health education.