Resumo

SERPA FILHO, Arlindo  e  OKOCHI, Regiane Cristina Neto. Training of health professionals: a pioneering experience in the state of Tocantins, Brazil. Trab. educ. saúde [online]. 2010, vol.8, n.2, pp. 319-335. ISSN 1981-7746.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S1981-77462010000200009.

This article aims to socialize an experience in a training course offered in the state of Tocantins, Brazil, by the Enerpeixe S.A. outfit in partnership with the State Department of Health (Sesau), the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (OCI), and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), in addition to presenting the methodology that was employed. The classes were taught by specialists from five IOC/Fiocruz laboratories and involved the training of community health workers and health professionals from municipal departments and the Tocantins State Health Department, affording interaction with the student-professionals in classes that focused on health problems caused by vectors and their major parasites. The perspective that was adopted led to a diversity of information that enabled each participant to understand the life cycle of the vectors and parasites of diseases such as onchocerciasis, mansonelliasis, malaria, leishmaniasis, schistosomiasis, and the Chagas disease. It also allowed interaction with ecological, health and environmental education issues. The training provided teachers and students with an experience on the extent of health problems in the state of Tocantins.

Palavras-chave : training in health; entomology; malacology; Tocantins; Brazil.