Implementation of a mental health internship in a higher education institution

Abstract

The approval of the More Doctors Program has triggered a number of readjustments of the National Curricular Guidelines (DCNs) for Medical Education, like the creation of a mental health internship integrated into the health service and community. Due to this demand, the higher education institutions have been encouraged to innovate in their teaching-learning methodologies in order to guarantee a generalist, humanistic and critical professional education. We report the experience of a private higher education institution in the implementation of a mental health internship in consonance with the new DCNs. We present all the steps of the implementation, reporting the participation of students, supervisors, preceptors and managers. We show that a mental health internship linked to different levels of healthcare promotes learning conditions capable of favoring the decentralization of care and application of the community/family approach.