ABSTRACT
Social media has gained significant importance in the lives of contemporary youth, both personally - for information, entertainment, and collectively - to project themselves as social beings and to share information with several people almost instantly. Thus, professors of Public Health curricular unit III, from the Medical School of a public university in Minas Gerais perceived the influence of Facebook® in the lives of students and used it to achieve concept learning objectives and practical applications of health promotion and prevention with the community. The experiment was conducted during two consecutive semesters, by two different classes of the course. A Facebook® page was created to promote the health of the population through creative, critical and accessible posts. The undergraduate students became the protagonists of the activity, since the choice of topics, the active search for high-quality scientific sources, responsibility for each post and page management were attributed to them, while they were supervised by the professors. Interaction with the non-academic community was obtained, since the page was divulged to reach all the population, contributing to health education and consequent autonomy of care by the individuals. Thus, the students’ posts reached many citizens, who, in addition to accessing relevant health information, could ask questions and make comments on the topic. Therefore, the experience allowed the development of skills such as Communication, Leadership, Health Care and Administration and Management, as recommended in the National Guideline for Undergraduate Medical Education. However, there are some limitations, such as the need to have access to the Internet and smartphones. Considering the experience, it was concluded that the use of social media in the medical course is an effective way of developing skills and expanding and consolidating knowledge, with the undergraduate students being central to this process, since their active participation is required. Thus, it is proposed to replicate this experience in other teaching-learning environments in Health, not only in Medical Schools, especially with the use of this resource by Primary Health Care, allowing the formation of professionals more committed to the integrated care of the population, in agreement with the principles of the Unified Health System (SUS).
Health Education; Education Medical; Social Networking; Public Health; Medicine