HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL EDUCATION COURSE FOR UNDERGRADUATE HEALTH STUDENTS: ANALYSIS OF A SHARED CONSTRUCTION

Abstract Undergraduate studies in the fields of health are currently being debated regarding the need for change in their syllabuses concerning the principles of the Brazilian Unified Health System, among other topics. Overcoming the operational and technicist education and expanding the critical thinking abilities of the students about the historical and political determinations of health are among the challenges highlighted. The article analyzes the teaching/learning process with a critical perspective based on the Historical and Political Education Course for Undergraduate Health Students, an extension semi-virtual course offered nationally, and supported by the National Policy for Popular Education in Health within the Unified Health System. In the present article, we analyzed the experiences brought about by the course, which took place between March and December 2014. The development of the course was based on the theoretical and methodological conceptions of the construction of shared knowledge, guided by the field of Popular Education and Health. The article presents: the history and the process of development of the course, the political and pedagogical project, the educational and pedagogical materials, and the contributions and questions, with notes on the potential future implications in educational processes in the field of health.