PET-Saúde interprofissionalidade: intencionalidade e contribuições dos projetos para a indução de mudanças na formação em saúde

Abstract

Introduction: the debate on the reorientation of health education is increasingly necessary due to the epidemiological and demographic transition, in addition to complex health needs. Furthermore, the uniprofessional teaching model based on silos and the tribalism of professions is still hegemonic. Therefore, Interprofessional Health Education is an approach that aims to strengthen collaboration and teamwork in the health care of users, families, and community. For this, the PET-Saúde Interprofessionalidade has been a strategy to promote changes in the teaching of health professions in Brazil. However, the presence of different professions sharing the same space does not configure interprofessionality. Objective: analyzing the intentionality and contributions of the PET-Saúde Interprofessionalidade projects to promote changes in health education. Method: this is qualitative research with a comprehensive approach. Three academic units of a public university in the state of Rio Grande do Norte configured the investigative scenario. As a result of the restrictions on in-person contact imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, data production took place remotely through the Google Meet platform, in virtual rooms restricted to individual online interviews with tutors, preceptors, and students of the PET-Saúde Interprofissionalidade. This technique was complemented by conducting an online focus group session with the preceptors. The non-probabilistic sample consisted of 22 subjects with experiences in the program. The material produced was submitted to content analysis in three stages: pre-analysis, exploration of the material, and treatment of the results. The first allowed a panoramic view of the empirical material and the systematization of a pre-classification of the elements in two thematic axes. In the following steps, the groupings of textual segments were consolidated, and their nuclei of meaning were identified, enabling the organization of thematic categories analyzed in the light of the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological framework of interprofessional education and collaborative practice. The investigation was approved by the Ethics Committee in Research with Human Beings from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, under number 4,630,008. Results: perceptions about the intentionality of the PET-Saúde Interprofessionalidade encompass aspects such as an environment of shared knowledge; theoretical deepening, distancing from traditional uniprofessional education, and the idea of something similar to the concept of Interprofessional Education. These elements express that shared learning experiences are relevant but do not represent the essence of an intervention based on Interprofessional Education, which is to foster the development of collaborative skills. This initiative provided contributions associated with the review of Pedagogical Course Projects; guided the discussion of Interprofessional Education in the Structuring Teaching Centers of some undergraduate courses; it stimulated the implementation of disciplines with an interprofessional character; strengthened teaching-service integration and contributed to the implementation of a Permanent Commission on Interprofessional Education. Despite these positive characteristics, the program faced obstacles arising from the hegemony of uniprofessional training; charges for productivity in the management of health services; turnover of members, difficulties in reconciling schedules, and, above all, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the redesign of planned proposals and implemented interventions. The projects conducted revealed the demand for structuring and longitudinal actions, which require health education policies that enable the sustainability of Interprofessional Education. Final c onsiderations: the development of collaborative competences must be clearly understood and safeguarded as an intention of Interprofessional Education in initiatives with this perspective. This demands sustainable strategies and policies at the macro, middl e, and micro levels, which consider interprofessionality as a permanent approach in the reorientation of the training and qualification of the health workforce towards effective teamwork.