The objective of this study was to capacitate medical students of the Public Health course of the Federal University of Amazonas and to help the community developing a citizenship-based culture within a socio-ecologic paradigm, identifying ophthalmic problems in school children of the community. Questions important for the health of the community as well as local problems of CAA, a neighborhood in the outskirts of the city of Manaus, were discussed in weekly household visits. School children between 4 and 14 years of age were submitted to an ophthalmic examination (OE) and the detected cases were transferred to a specialist. Problems such as unemployment, deficient basic sanitation, ignorance of the laws and low educational level were detected and motivated meetings with residents, medical students and professionals of related areas. OE was performed in 133 children. Only one needed treatment. It was verified that the contact with real life is able to turn the medical student into a socially active professional fighting for a healthy place/healthy city and helping the community to fight its social battles in search of a better quality of life and full exercise of citizenship. The prevalence of ophthalmic problems in the community's school children was found to be lower than observed in the literature.
Culture; Health Promotion; Education, Medical; Models, Educational; Eye Health