Current medical training is organized according to a technical/scientific model. However, in recent years proposals have emerged with an ethical/humanist orientation that challenge the prevailing model and aim to transform it. This essay contends that Brazil's Unified National Health System (SUS) is the platform for the emergence of new demands that leverage the transformations required by medical education in the country. The proposal under the Curriculum Guidelines for Medical Education of 2001 suggests that students begin participating early in diverse teaching/learning scenarios, and emphasizes the role of primary care in this process. The understanding is that the establishment of new scenarios for practical experience, appreciation of the psychosocial and anthropological dimensions of illness, and the incorporation of relational technologies in medical training allow a reorientation of the view towards the subjective aspects of illness, fostering an expanded understanding of the health-disease process. Considering that innovations in the work process enable changes in clinical practice and the production of health care, the study investigates the possible emergence of a new way of medical thinking.
Medical education; Knowledge; Style of thought; Single Health System; Primary health care; Professional practice