Menstrual and sexual health education in Brazil's School Health Program: an experience report in medical education

TL;DR

Medical students in Brazil helped teach menstrual health to young girls through a school program, improving both student skills and adolescent understanding.

Contribution

A novel, low-cost model for integrating medical students into public health education via Brazil's School Health Program.

Findings

Medical students developed communication and empathy skills by teaching sensitive topics.

Adolescent participants showed reduced embarrassment and increased openness after the sessions.

The model supports community engagement and public policy implementation in low-resource settings.

Abstract

Menstrual health is a critical public health issue tied to gender equity and adolescent well-being. Brazil's School Health Program (SHP) mandates sexual and reproductive health education, yet structured models for integrating medical students into this policy-driven, community-based work are scarce. This study describes and analyzes an experiential learning project where first-year medical students facilitated menstrual health education within the SHP.

A qualitative case study was conducted. Six female medical students developed and delivered a developmentally tailored educational session on puberty, menstrual physiology, and dignity to 5th-grade (elementary school) girls at a public school, as part of the 2025 activities of the SHP. Data from structured reflective debriefings with students, supervisor observations, and SHP records were analyzed through thematic content review and consensual validation.

Analysis revealed three primary learning outcomes for medical students: (1) Development of core communication and empathetic skills for discussing sensitive topics; (2) A deepened, experiential understanding of menstrual stigma and social determinants of health; and (3) Practical insights into intersectoral collaboration and public policy implementation through the SHP framework. School staff observed a marked reduction in embarrassment and increased openness to discussion among the adolescent participants.

Integrating menstrual health promotion into early medical training via established public policy platforms like the SHP is feasible, low-cost, and highly effective. This model serves as a dual-purpose intervention, fostering socially accountable, humanistic competencies in future physicians while simultaneously advancing adolescent health literacy and dignity. It provides a replicable framework for community-engaged medical education in Brazil and similar low-resource settings.