Importance of health teaching skills attributed by university students and professors

Abstract The article aimed to analyze the importance attributed to health teaching skills by students and university professors of Nursing and Medicine courses. The data were collected in 2017 based on the application of two health teaching skill scales to 315 students and 80 teachers. Differences between groups of students (type of course, institution and age group) and teachers (type of course, institution, length of service and type of teaching practice) were analyzed using non-parametric tests. The results indicated a high importance of health teaching skills for both teachers and university students. Significant differences were also observed between students from the Nursing and Medicine courses, from public and private institutions, as well as from professors with different working times and teaching practices. This result encourages research to assess the health teaching skills adopted in university courses, as they directly contribute to the development of teacher training actions.