A construção do olhar

Abstract

This work presents a critical-reflective narrative of my undergraduate medical education at the Federal University of São Carlos. By revisiting personal, academic, and professional experiences throughout six years of training, I reflect on changes in my understanding of medicine, care, and my own professional identity. The narrative follows different stages of this journey, from choosing medicine and entering university during the pandemic to experiences in patient care, research, and extracurricular activities. The main experiences revisited include personal growth in the face of family circumstances, recognition of the influence of socioeconomic conditions on the health-disease process, the development of bonds with patients, encounters with death and the limits of medical practice, and experiences of leadership and personal development through participation in the student athletic association. These experiences helped me understand that medical education extends beyond the acquisition of technical knowledge and also involves communication, relationships, responsibility, teamwork, recognition of my own vulnerability, and an understanding of patients within their social and family contexts. At the end of undergraduate training, I remain aware that medical knowledge is always unfinished and that becoming a physician is an ongoing process. Rather than achieving an ideal professional image, this journey points to a desire to practice person-centered medicine committed to dignified care, the production of knowledge, and the preservation of the human essence of the profession.