Biochemical for health students: importance and teaching alternatives

Abstract

Introduction: The study of biochemistry involves complex and abstract subjects, which often makes it difficult for students to appreciate their contents. In this way, the students feel disinterested and fail to visualize the importance of this discipline that is essential for the understanding of metabolic disorders and interpretation of laboratory and clinical exams. Objective: Search for information in the scientific literature about difficulties and alternatives in biochemistry teaching to health students. Methods: This is an exploratory-descriptive research based on the analysis of scientific articles published in Portuguese and English language in the period from 2008 to 2018, guided by the question "How do basic science teaching (biochemistry) for students in science health is currently carried out and what are its objectives, alternative methods and results? ", using the descriptors: education in biochemistry, education in basic sciences, health area and teaching practice. Development: The discipline of biochemistry is considered to be difficult for students to learn due to its complexity and large amount of subjects. The lack of prior knowledge of some concepts of biochemistry hinder performance in college and also the omission and passivity of some teachers influence in this scenario. Multi-mediatic materials and the project based learning make the students more active in the classroom, so they are promising alternatives to increase the interest and importance of teaching and learning biochemistry. Conclusion: The greatest challenge of teaching biochemistry is to approach the basic knowledge for the different health courses linking the construction of knowledge with professional practice.