Introduction:

Academic monitorship is a process of training and introduction to teaching that is foreseen in the National Curricular Guidelines of 2014 and has the potential to confer greater competence in the area of health education, which is valued by the Medical School Accreditation System as an international quality indicator.

Objective:

The study sought to identify the main potentialities and challenges of academic monitorship in medical education.

Method:

This is a cross-sectional descriptive observational study conducted with 11 medical students, through semi-structured interviews and data analysis performed from a qualitative approach of the textual-discursive type.

Result:

The codes were grouped into four categories: (1) motivations for participation, (2) challenges faced, (3) learning developed and (4) teaching career. The main motivation was curriculum, followed by interest in learning content. The biggest challenges were developing responsibility and content explanation. Among the learnings, teaching skills, meaningful learning and teaching methodologies were the most prevalent. In terms of career, monitors at least presented teaching as a possibility beyond medical care practice, and being a facilitator, having interpersonal skills and caring about the student constituted the triad - in the monitors’ view - of a “good teacher”.

Conclusion:

Academic monitorship is a didactic-pedagogical practice capable of stimulating interest and professionalization in the teaching career. In addition, it should be encouraged by public and institutional policies with the objective of qualifying future doctors to act as educators in health care.

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