Teaching-service-community integration, active methodologies and Unified Health System: perceptions of Dentistry students

Abstract Background The traditional model of hegemonic and technicist health training limits the answers to the current demands of the Unified Health System (USH). To overcome these weaknesses, Teaching-Service-Community Integration (TSCI) and Active Methodologies (AM) are presented as strategies for reorienting vocational training. Objective This study analyzed the perceptions of dentistry students of Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS), related to pedagogical practices in light of AM and TSCI for and in the USH. Method It was a qualitative research, which was carried out between 2012 and 2013, with 73 students, who were enrolled and attending the Compulsory Internship in Collective Health Dentistry II (CICHD II). The invitation was made after the course end, when the grades had already been released. A script was used containing guiding questions, which dealt with students’ opinions about: (1) the course; (2) the potentialities and weaknesses of the teaching-learning methodology used and the Health Units attended; And (3) the intention to, after graduation, work in the USH /Family Health Strategy. After the data collection, they were transcribed and, subsequently, the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) was processed. Results The TSCI, which was articulated to the AM, allowed students to connect theory and practice, integrated to the realities of USH. Conclusion They noted the relevance of the permanent education in health and the difficulties/potentialities of using active methodologies integrated to the TSCI in the professional formation, pointing the UHS as a real possibility of work when they will be graduate.