Professional training for ethical and comprehensive care of patients living with HIV/AIDS

• Main Authors: Emília Ellen Araújo Moraes, Ingrid Cherie dos Santos Silva, Ricardo Douglas Santos de Freitas, Antonio Medeiros Júnior, Cipriano Maia de Vasconcelos, Marise Reis de Freitas
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) 2018-02-01
• Series: MedEdPublish
• Subjects: Medical education research; Curriculum infrastructure; Ethics/attitudes; Learning outcomes
• Online Access: https://www.mededpublish.org/Manuscripts/1450

Introduction: Caring for people living with HIV is complex and requires ethical and skilled professionals able to offer humanized and comprehensive care at the different levels of the health system. Objective: Determine whether the academic training of health professionals at a university in Northeastern Brazil develops the skills and competencies to care for people living with HIV. Methodology: This is a qualitative study, conducted in two stages: (1) documental analysis of curricular methods, contents and activities performed in Nursing, Medicine and Dentistry courses and (2) focus groups composed of undergraduates and professors from the three courses. Data analysis was conducted according to Bardin. Results: Documental analysis identified few curricular components in the three courses specifically related to HIV. Focus group analysis showed that the issue is superficially and sporadically addressed, with few hours spent on the subject and methodologies that do not satisfactorily develop the skills and competencies required to care for HIV-infected patients. Conclusion: The current training model for health professionals is limited to technical-scientific knowledge of HIV/AIDS, with little practical experience.