Home visit and the construction of the medical student's ethical principles

The medical course of the Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences of the Pontifical Catholic University of São Paulo transitioned from the learning in the essentially hospital model to inserting the student in the Primary Health Care. In this process, the home visit was a fundamental instrument for the teaching-learning. The objective was to analyze the contribution of home visit to the medical student's ethical training. The study carried out through interviews with 29 students (first to sixth year) about their experience with home visit. The main ethical conflict was between the student's role in this complex field of practice, the ideal time for his insertion and the feeling of helplessness. Entering the home initially seemed to cause invasion of privacy, which decreased as the benefits of home visit were perceived. The conflict of autonomy versus beneficence had a progressive character, passing through understanding the concept of autonomy, evolved into the process of reflection on this principle, seeming to be largely solved at the end of the course. Conclusion: The home visit proved to be a generator of ethical conflicts and a favorable environment for its reflection, showing its importance as an educational tool in medical practice.