Contexts of vulnerabilities and the production of care as themes in medical education

Abstract

This article analyzes the offer of a curricular component in the undergraduate course Federal University of Paraiba. The module in question was offered as an optional component for students in the fourth period of the course, during the emergency remote teaching imposed by the COVID-19 in 2020. It aimed to problematize via virtual conversation circles and other participatory pedagogical strategies and address the processes of vulnerability and production of health care in different social groups. For this, a triangulation of methods (quanti-qualitative) was used by applying an electronic questionnaire and indepth interviews with the students in the module. Questionnaire data underwent descriptive analysis, whereas the interviews, thematic analysis via IRAMUTEQ. Data analysis enabled us to perceive the effects of the module as a counter-hegemonic form to the biomedical training model, providing the academic, social, and medical (re)positioning of students. We observed that medical training still follows systems of oppression such as racism, corponormativity, and patriarchy but the module enabled students to transgress this biomedical model by providing a training process which encompasses care for vulnerable populations.