Healthcare training mediated by university extension has been found to be essential for providing extended experience of acting within scenarios of healthcare work. An experience of an extension project within the National Health System, involving cooperation between the university and municipal managers is described in this article, with reflections on the repercussions triggered during the training and on the students’ educational process. The students’ actions were based on knowledge of local realities, reflection and shared prioritization of problems/demands, followed by interventions of educational and participatory nature, for which the planning and implementation emphasized collective and collaborative learning, research and intervention methods. The students reported repercussions within the personal and professional sphere, which added potential towards transformatory attitudes of citizenship in relation to social issues and organization of healthcare services.
Healthcare training; University Extension; Health Education; National Health System