title: [Problem-solving approach in the training of healthcare professionals].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To discuss the problem-solving approach in the training of healthcare professionals who would be able to act both in academic life and in educational practices in services and communities.
  
  
  METHODS
  This is an analytical description of an experience of problem-based learning in specialization-level training that was developed within a university-level healthcare education institution. The analysis focuses on three perspectives: course design, student-centered learning and the teacher's role.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The problem-solving approach provided impetus to the learning experience for these postgraduate students. There was increased motivation, leadership development and teamworking. This was translated through their written work, seminars and portfolio preparation. The evaluation process for these experiences presupposes well-founded practices that express the views of the subjects involved: self-assessment and observer assessment. The impact of this methodology on teaching practices is that there is a need for greater knowledge of the educational theories behind the principles of significant learning, teachers as intermediaries and research as an educational axiom.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The problem-solving approach is an innovative response to the challenges of training healthcare professionals. Its potential is recognized, while it is noted that educational innovations are characterized by causing ruptures in consolidated methods and by establishing different ways of responding to demands presented at specific moments. The critical problems were identified, while highlighting the risk of considering this approach to be a technical tool that is unconnected with the design of the teaching policy. Experiences and analyses based on the problem-solving assumptions need to be shared, thus enabling the production of knowledge that strengthens the transformation of educational practices within healthcare.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Desenvolvimento do Ensino Superior em Saúde, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil. nbatista@cedess.epm.br
authors.forename: Nildo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: Sylvia Helena
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.forename: Paulete
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.forename: Otília
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Seiffert
authors.forename: Maria Cecília
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Sonzogno
mesh_terms: D004517:Education, Professional / Q000379:methods*; D006282:Health Personnel / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D011340:Problem Solving; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods*