Medical education in mother-child healthcare: practice environments, strategies, and challenges

Abstract

This work aims at reporting the pedagogical strategies used in a medical school, in the subject Collective Health IV, to teach concepts regarding Women's and Children's health, in the Cegonha Network. The teachers of the subject divided the students in small groups, who were placed in practice settings such as: postpartum Joint Accommodations, Human Milk Banks, and other mother-child healthcare services. It was found, in all experiences, that the students brought forth their understanding of the Cegonha Network decree and raised questions about the organization of the service network that was visited. As a result, the pedagogical strategy used allowed for developing the critical knowledge of students. This was especially clear when the undergraduates discussed together whether the directives of the Cegonha Network had been applied in the visited health services.