PET-Health: A potentially transforming experience in the undergraduate course

Abstract

This is a report on the experiences of the participants who performed scenarios in the Education by Work for Health Program (PET-Health) at the Federal University of Piaui (UFPI), Brazil, from September 2012 to August 2014. For the participants involved— students, preceptors, and mentors—the experience acquired in performing these scenarios was crucial in acquiring new relationships and knowledge and in producing new subjectivities. In this context, the combination of the services and the daily life of the population became the deconstructing element for the culture of the “neutral, individualistic, and competitive professional” and opened the door for the development of professionals who were socially and ethically committed. Thus, it may be possible to infer that the path created by the integration of the teaching-service-community has the latent potential to transform the knowledge and practices of the different participants.