The breach between academic studies and professional intervention in health field

Abstract

The main objective of this project was the definition of the breach between academic studies and professional exercise of professional that work in Health field. The project was developed in the Psychology Research Center of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Universidad de Palermo (Argentina), which was a training space for students of the Psychology Doctoral Program of this university. It is a qualitative descriptive study in which we applied semi-structured interviews to professionals that work in Health field in private and public health institutions of the Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires. People interviewed said that in their university studies the role of the theory was more important than the role of practice; even we can observe differences between the decades of graduation and type of university institution (public or private). At the same time, they recognized a breach between academic studies and professional exercise which characterized by the lack of spaces for the practice before the graduation and the knowledge about labor market, and at the same time the increase of the number of students in the universities. They recommended give a protagonist role to the practice in the university studies and regain the recognition for health professionals from the population and the governments.