The graduate course Informação em Saúde (Health Information), offered in May 2026 within the Graduate Program in Information Science (PPGCI) at the Universidade Federal de São Carlos, brought together students and researchers in an intensive academic experience focused on the relationship between health, information, evidence, technology, and society.
The discipline was taught by Prof. Dr. Maria Cristiane Barbosa Galvão, from the Universidade de São Paulo, whose work has long explored the intersections between Information Science, Health Sciences, digital transformation, evidence dissemination, and vulnerable populations.
Structured as an immersive experience across full-day sessions, the course combined theoretical discussions, critical reflection, practical exercises, and collaborative dialogue. Students engaged with topics such as health information ecosystems, informational needs in healthcare, scientific evidence, health technologies, systematic reviews, digital transformation, terminologies and classifications in health, social determinants of health, and the epistemological foundations of Information Science applied to healthcare contexts.
One of the central aspects of the course was the progression adopted throughout the discipline. The discussions began with fundamental questions: What is health? What is information in health? How have these concepts changed historically? From there, students advanced toward evidence-based healthcare, scientific production, and finally the development of systematic literature reviews and advanced search strategies in scientific databases.
The discipline also explored how contemporary health challenges require broader and more human-centered perspectives. Discussions included the concept of One Health, emphasizing the interconnection between human, animal, and environmental health, as well as reflections on how cultural, cognitive, and social experiences may act as informational mediations related to health and well-being.
Throughout the classes, students were encouraged not only to learn methods, but also to critically analyze the structures behind scientific production and knowledge validation. Authors such as Thomas Kuhn, Pierre Bourdieu, and Hilton Japiassu were discussed in relation to scientific paradigms, symbolic power, institutional interests, and the myth of scientific neutrality.
The final sessions focused on practical activities involving the construction of research problems, definition of systematic review protocols, and development of advanced search strategies directly in health databases. Students presented their own research projects, receiving collective feedback and methodological guidance.
Beyond the formal structure of the classroom, the discipline fostered strong interaction among participants. Informal discussions during lunches and collaborative moments outside class became opportunities to better understand students’ academic concerns, institutional challenges, and research aspirations. According to the students themselves, many entered the discipline discouraged and academically exhausted, but concluded the experience feeling motivated and intellectually energized.
The atmosphere throughout the course was marked by intense engagement. Students frequently remained in the classroom until the very end of the sessions and actively participated in discussions, practical exercises, and group reflections. Multiple photographs were taken throughout the discipline to document presentations, collaborative work, and the collective academic experience built during the week.
The course also highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of Information Science. Students expressed surprise at the diversity of research trajectories presented during the discipline, including studies on music and health information, evidence dissemination in plain language, health technologies, patient records, mixed methods research, clinical relevance of information, and systematic reviews.
At the end of the discipline, students proposed future collaborations, scientific events, and possible academic exchanges involving Ribeirão Preto and São Carlos, reinforcing the creation of new intellectual and institutional connections between the two universities.
More than a methodological course on systematic reviews or health information, the discipline ultimately became an experience about scientific meaning, critical thinking, and the transformative role of education in graduate studies.
As one of the strongest impressions left by the discipline, students emphasized not only the technical rigor of the classes, but also the sense of intellectual purpose and academic belonging that emerged throughout the experience.