The aim of this paper was to analyze the meaning of the experiences of students in undergraduate healthcare courses who participated in new education spaces resulting from strategies for reorientation of health education, from the perspective of the Brazilian Health System. (SUS) In producing data for qualitative exploratory research, we used semi-structured interviews with 12 students from different courses. For data analysis, thematic content analysis was used. For the students, participating in PET-Health and in SUS internship experiences is important because they learn meaningful content that is not addressed at university and develop joint activities with students from different courses. The learning that results from this linkage motivates them to develop professional work in the public system, since it allows them to experience the daily work; generates feelings of anxiousness, restlessness and struggle; and represents an incentive for seeking knowledge.
Public health; Professional education in public health; Human resources education