This paper analyses the transformation of social representations among physiotherapy students, regarding children with physical motor deficiency, influenced by internships on pediatric physiotherapy. In posing this issue, we took into consideration the stigmatized manner in which people with deficiencies are represented and the influence of supervised curriculum internships on undergraduate healthcare training. This was a qualitative study on 24 students entering and leaving pediatric physiotherapy internships, who participated in semi-structured interviews and focus groups. This study made it possible to infer that the representations were fundamentally provided through the experience of the internship, although the theoretical and conceptual disciplines furnished technical support for the intervention. In this manner, the curriculum needs to emphasize the internship as knowledge and praxis, since the gains transcend the change in the way that deficiency is regarded, bringing incomparable benefits and professional resources, as well as personal values that are essential for shaping human character.
Education; Health Education; Physiotherapy; Rehabilitation; Child
