Perception of internship preceptors on the influence of models on medical education

Abstract: Introduction: Professionalism is the basis of social contract which legitimizes medicine as profession, and it can be developed through interaction with good professional models. As preceptor, health professionals have, among their attributes, to accompany students while developing his/her care function, thus becoming a model to form future professionals. Objective: This article aims to verify internship tutors’ perception on models’ influence on their medical training at the University Hospital of Vassouras (HUV). Method: This is an exploratory qualitative research, whose methodology consisted of two stages. The first comprised a structured questionnaire about sociodemographic data, while the second contemplated the accomplishment of an online focus group on the digital zoom platform. Result: From 42 preceptors invited to participate, 28 actually participated, representing 75.6%. Data analysis evidenced the importance attributed by preceptors to their role as educators not only for the training of future doctors technically qualified to exercise humanized medicine, but also for professionals endowed with ethical principles, values and commitments. Conclusion: It was concluded that preceptors exercise their role with great pleasure and commitment, self-perceiving that they are models of professionalism and that they can represent positive or negative examples for students. It is also noteworthy that the professionalism theme needs to be made explicit in the construction of curricula, rather than being restricted to the hidden curriculum in education.