[Exploring Turning Points in the Academic Lives of Health Sciences Students].

Abstract

This research set out to identify and describe turning points in the lives of medical, nursing, and psychology students in a school of health sciences at a private university in Argentina. Turning points refer to unexpected events and situations in people's lives where it is possible to determine a change or transformation.

Aim: to explore turning points originating in the health sciences school. Through a qualitative, exploratory, and descriptive cross-sectional study, we tried to identify, describe, and characterize turning points in the students' lives.

Methods: The strategy used was the recording of narratives and an interview. Twenty-three students in their final year of Medicine, Nursing, and Psychology participated. A thematic analysis of the narratives and interviews using Atlas ti software allowed us to identify the main dimensions/categories the students recognized as significant in their educational trajectory. These categories included meaningful experiences meaningful people transformative places, and pandemics.

Results: The temporal distance to becoming aware of events that become turning points is a condition that affects their identification. Students know situations but cannot recognize that these can become turning points.

Conclusion: This study made it possible to make visible aspects of the institutional culture that affect the shaping of professional identity and are transversal to the degree courses in this health sciences school.