Connecting knowledge and practice: specialization course in dentistry in public health at Brazilian unified health system - a journey of transformative integration.

Objective: To understand the teaching-learning process from the perspective of professors, students, preceptors, managers, and the community through an internship of a specialization course in dentistry in public health, based on the educational strategy of teaching-service-management-community integration within the Unified Health System (SUS).

Methodology: A Case Study was carried out with a descriptive and exploratory approach, originating from a pedagogical activity that took place in the territories served by Primary Health Care Services in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Participants included professors and students from a specialization course in dentistry in public health with training in the SUS, preceptors, managers, and residents from communities where internship activities occurred, thus encompassing all aspects of the teaching-service-management-community integration. The research utilized convenience sampling for participant selection and conducted descriptive analyses of demographic data. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic content analysis, while quantitative data were processed through descriptive statistical analysis.

Results: There was little ethnic representation: professors were predominantly white men; students and health professionals were mostly white women; and community residents were mostly white or brown men. It was observed that the collaboration between the education institution, students, and healthcare professionals (preceptors) in practical settings, using strategies such as area recognition, teamwork, and home visits, which are planned before the internship in workshops with preceptors, promotes the integration of teaching-service-management-community for training in public health. Although national health training policies favor this integration, sectoral management remains disconnected from the educational process, as does the community.

Conclusion: Social inequalities are mirrored in education, and thus ethnic representation can contribute to bridging this gap. In this experience, the success of the integration of teaching-service-management-community resulted from the pedagogical collaboration between the educational institution and healthcare professionals, with management and the community remaining separated as passive subjects in the educational process.