The resignification of medical practices based on contact with the Other - with indigenous and caboclo-riverside residents: An experience report in the Amazon

Abstract

Introduction:The Amazonas' State University provides Nursing, Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy degrees with the experience of Rural Training in Public Health. Two MD students had high expectations of experiencing health care in the Amazonas interior, as they realized that there was a lapse in their academic training. They questioned the fact that they were about to take the place of "doctors trained by the state of Amazonas" without knowing the population, ethnocultural and geographical variety of the region. This lack encouraged the choice of the location of the internship to be the city of São Gabriel da Cachoeira. Methods:Meetings and lectures were held with health teams that enabled clinical experiences and interactions with indigenous and riverside residents. Finally, seminars/activity reports were produced, which contributed to the awakening of reflections on medical practices. Thus, this experience report is based on the particular apprehension of the reality described, based on daily observation. Results and Discussions: During the internship, the students began to question and deconstruct the doctor-user relationship hierarchy. Conclusions: Thus, they re-signified their practices beyond technical and biological knowledge, in line with the decolonial epistemology.