The perceptions of Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde) users about including undergraduate students in Family Health Units (Unidades de Saúde da Família).
BACKGROUND
Curriculum guidelines for health professionals in training recommend including health students in different levels of service in the Unified Health System (Sistema Único de Saúde - SUS). Thus, there is a need to investigate the perceptions of SUS users with regard to the students' participation.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the perceptions of SUS users about the participation of health students in Family Health Units (Unidades de Saúde da Família - USF).


METHODS
A total of 518 people were interviewed in the waiting room of eight USFs in São Carlos/São Paulo. The interviews were conducted by students using a semi-structured questionnaire, and the data were analyzed descriptively.


RESULTS
A total of 391 (75.5%) women and 127 (24.5%) men, with a mean age of 42.0±17.5 years, were interviewed. Among these users, 33.1% had encountered students in the USF, mainly while receiving clinical care (52.1%) or during home visits (20.1%); 55.3% considered the student's performance very good, and 0.6% considered it very bad. Most of the interviewees (58.2%) evaluated the activity performed by the student as effective, whereas 8.2% considered it ineffective.


CONCLUSIONS
The students were included primarily in individual assistance activities, and the care provided by the students was well accepted. Both the users' satisfaction scores and their reported expectations were positive.
Universidade Federal de São, Department of Physical Therapy, São CarlosSP, Brazil.
Patricia
P
Driusso
Tatiana O
TO
Sato
Regina H V T
RH
Joaquim
Ana S
AS
Moccellin
Silvia H Z
SH
Mascarenhas
Tania F
TF
Salvini
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001290:Attitude; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013336:Students, Health Occupations; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult