Identidade profissional e prática docente na educação médica: contribuições e limites na garantia do direito à saúde.

Abstract

Medical education in Brazil has historically been distant from values that promote the health of individuals and communities, constituting a barrier to the structuring process of the Unified Health System (SUS) in guaranteeing the right to health. It perpetuates a training model that is incapable of addressing the growing social demands for health and its determinants. The central justification for the movements toward changes in medical education revolves around the inadequacy of the training to produce a medical practice aligned with strategies for reorienting healthcare models. These models require professionals capable of working in teams, providing comprehensive and effective clinical care, and being competent in management, risk prevention, disease prevention, and health promotion. In this context, the present study analyzed the formation of professional identities among faculty members in Brazilian medical schools, identifying the repercussions of these "identity forms" on the training of physicians in line with the needs of the SUS. An exploratory, qualitative study was conducted based on Juan César Garcia's theory of the process of producing physicians, Claude Dubar's theory of the construction of social and professional identities, and Ball's approach to educational policy analysis. The data collected through interviews were processed using the IRaMuTeQ software (Interface de R pour les Analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires). The analysis identified predominant elements of the "identity forms" assumed, which are characteristic of a career as a process of adjustment or adaptation, more defined and stable. The low appropriation of the career by faculty members—characterized, among other factors, by the content addressed, the methodologies used, the limited discussion of ethical, political, and social aspects, the reduced interaction with health needs, and the secondary position of teaching practice compared to other work activities—places the career within an instrumental logic, tending to preserve the established structure. The effort to analyze the trajectory, training, and teaching practice as a social practice is directly linked to the perspective of training personnel capable of supporting the expansion, consolidation, and requalification of the Unified Health System, consistent with the inclusive and democratic processes proposed by the Brazilian Health Reform.