The perceptions of Unified Health System (Sistema Ã?nico 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). METHOD: 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