The formal education and professional training of workers in the Brazilian Federal Health Care System (Sistema Único de Saúde) are key issues experienced by the Family Health Strategy. Permanent Education has emerged as a proposal founded upon the on-the-job learning conception, which awakens the professional about his/her reality and work process through critical reflection. The objective of this descriptive study with qualitative approach was to analyze the on-the-job learning process of the Family Health Strategy in the Complexo do Alemão, Rio de Janeiro-RJ, Brazil based on the health technologies. Systematic observation and semi-structured interviews were carried out with physicians, nurses, and orthodontists between December of 2007 and February of 2008. The data compiled was then submitted to content analysis. The results show that these professionals express knowledge acquired through everyday work experiences and permanent education activities, thus constituting a pedagogical process of teaching-learning among multidisciplinary teams, but little-used in education actions by Brazilian Federal Health Care System management.
Family health program; Health education; Learning