Brazilian Sign Language in medical courses in the state of São Paulo: between challenges and paths to the humanization of Medicine

• Grant number: 24/05532-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: August 01, 2024
• End date: July 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Claudia Aparecida Stefane
• Grantee: Bianca Caseiro Chiuratto
• Host Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde (CCBS). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Even though the National Curricular Guidelines guide the need to teach Brazilian Sign Language (Libras) in the medical training curriculum, in practice, deaf people suffer from barriers in communication during care, which poses a challenge for humanization of Medicine and violates one of the principles of the SUS. The state of São Paulo, which contains around 19% of the country's medical schools, is the one that trains the most doctors in the territory, therefore, it has great national relevance in medical training. It is known that the path to training ethical doctors capable of competently practicing the profession involves changing the curricula of this degree. Therefore, the study aims to propose a characterization form for the offer of Libras in Medicine courses based on the current scenario of its teaching in medical schools (EM) in the state of São Paulo. This is, therefore, a cross-sectional study that will collect data based on freely accessible information on the internet. The administrative characterization of the EM will be based on the Ministry of Education's electronic bank and the verification of the existence of Libras in these courses will be through the Pedagogical Political Project and/or the curriculum available on the EM websites. From the analysis of quantitative data, an overview of Medicine courses and Libras teaching in EM will be drawn up. In turn, qualitative information will be used together with what is found in the literature to suggest ways for the inclusion of Libras in the EM curriculum, resulting in the creation of a characterization sheet. The project should contribute to the training of medical students to assist the deaf community.