The aim of this study was to analyze representations of teaching and pedagogical training within the pedagogical policy project of a master's course on public health. The study was based on a qualitative research perspective and involved students, former students and teachers, using document analysis and semistructured interviews as instruments. Contributions from Bourdieu, Sousa Santos, Anastasiou, Pimenta, Cunha and Lucarelli provided the theoretical framework for data interpretation through content analysis. It was concluded that even though the participants expected that their professional action would consist of teaching, there was little of this dimension in the curricular proposals. There were discrepancies between their motivations and the training proposals. This could be an indication of fragility of the field of scientific education and of university-level pedagogy within this context. The conclusions signal issues such as higher education quality in Brazil, challenges to teaching and misunderstandings caused by linearity between research and teaching.
University teaching; Higher education; Teacher training; University pedagogy; Public health