Pilot study: the training of health professionals about genetically modified food from the perspective of the Science, technology and society

The objective of this work was to establish and assess a training module for Nutrition Sciences and Medical Sciences in relation to transgenic food, and additionally to contribute to the construction of a comprehensive learning concept involving scientific, technological and social knowledge. This module is an integrative and multidisciplinary proposal that studies the transgenic foods currently on the market through an integrated scientific, technological and societal approach. The topics offered in the module were: genetics, health, the environment, legislation, ethics, controversies, concerns, visions of the various stakeholders, the scientific method, uncertainty and the precautionary principle. Was evaluated from September to December 2018 through a questionnaire and interview. Were analyzed in the program SPSS, and the interviews in the program Nvivo using content analysis techniques. Participants include: 7 nutritionists and 7 physicians. The structure of the training module presented is innovative and has its genesis in the current Transgenic food state of art. It has been found that both physicians and nutritionists agree with most of the topics. For both nutritionists and physicians, topics with a greater level of agreement were related to “Health” and the lowest level of agreement regarded “Stakeholders’ insight”. For the interviewees, the module’s contents are well structured, comprehensive, well explained and organized by topic. With unanimity, the individuals involved in this study agree and consider the themes presented in the module structure to be important, although there is a difference between the courses of nutrition science and medicine regarding the way in which training is offered as well as differences in some content.