Abstract:

Introduction:
Distance Education (EAD) is part of the technology-mediated education modality. The practice of tutoring in the Specialization Course in Family Health requires pedagogical, technological and health-specific knowledge in order to enhance interaction in the educational process. This course consists of a workload of 390 hours and is organized in to two main fields: I - Collective Health Field; and II - Professional Center. In field I, the knowledge of tutors with training in the area of health and Primary Health Care (PHC) is addressed, in teaching units that total 190 hours and are organized in 3 units:
1 - Organization of Health Care;
2 - Instruments for Organization of the PHC; and
3 - Care Management in PHC.

Regarding field II, the curricular components have a 180 hour workload and the contents are organized in to complex clinical cases, with the professional tutors being from the same academic-professional background as the student (doctors, dentists or nurses). At the end of the course, the students present their Final Course Work, counting on the orientation and guidance of the tutor from the beginning of field II. Thus, it is understood that the tutor is an active agent, guiding, motivating and mediating the educational process, as it remains in constant formation by the interaction established in the virtual learning environment (AVA).

Objective:
To describe the training and the role of tutors in EAD in field I - Collective Health Field of the Specialization Course in Family Health.

Methodological description:
The design is of the case report type. The tutors were selected through a selective process and carry out the training course with a 30 hour workload. Approved tutors are invited to tutor about 40 students at AVA.

Results:
Currently, the course has registered the certification of 2,042 graduated students and 1,035 still studying in field II. The training to be tutors in field I took place with 115 professionals with ample PHC performance, of these 82 (71.3%) have acted as tutors in AVA. During the field I educational process, which takes around six months, the tutors provide pedagogical guidance to the students, based on the curricular components of the teaching units and the evaluation of the training activities every 72 hours. The interaction and orientation is established from the dialogue that is expressed in the registers made in the questions and answers forums, instant messages, comments in tasks and sending of files and chats. The tutors have follow-ups of the Tutorial Coordination through AVA resources and weekly meetings via Skype to discuss situations experienced in the educational process, regarding the orientation of the activities of the curricular components and the organization of the course. According to an evaluation carried out by the students on the performance of the tutors, the tutors was considered to be satisfactory by 708 (87.3%), out of a group of 811 students. Regarding the item monitoring the performance of activities, 717 (88.5%) students rated it as satisfactory, and the item regarding the tutor as a motivator 699 (86.2%) student rated it as satisfactory.

Conclusion:
A high quality EAD should use educational and interactive strategies that enable active student learning. In the course in question, the evaluation showed that the role of tutors was very important for students to construct and reflect on knowledge related to work processes and assistance in PHC addressed in the course.

Keywords:

Educational Technologies, Distance Education, Family Health Strategy.