The collective health degree for latin america: social thinking in health and health training at the federal university of latin american integration

Abstract

Collective Health in Latin America has a long history of training health professionals. In the Brazilian case, the creation of undergraduate courses in Collective Health (CGSC) promoted by the Programa Reuni in 2007 brought substantial contributions to the movements of health reforms, still ongoing. In a broad perspective, there is consensus that valuing the social and human sciences in health becomes essential to train health workers able to understand and intervene in the social determination in health, where it seeks to promote actions, Practices and strategies that reduce health inequalities. It is a theoretical-analytical essay that seeks clues to answer the question of how social and human sciences in health have become a fundamental space in collective health, but still shy in this training at the Federal University of Latin American Integration (UNILA). UNILA, by integrating scientific, social and cultural networks from Latin America and the Caribbean, has been preparing graduate health professionals capable of acting in various socio-cultural contexts, contributing to the improvement of collective health. However, there is still a difficulty in promoting teaching, research and extension through the human and social sciences in health. This challenge is a reflection of the difficulties that still exist to break with the hegemonic model in the formation process, including sanitarians.