[The educational context to train health care professionals. A qualitative approach].

BACKGROUND: There are differences in the educational context in Health Sciences, between clinical and non-clinical teachers. Therefore, the didactic and reflexive peculiarities of both educational scenarios should be analyzed.

AIM: To describe the conditions of the educational context in Health Sciences for the practice of the teaching role in a Chilean university.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: Qualitative study, performed according to Grounded Theory of Strauss and Corbin. Thirty one teachers from six health sciences programs were selected according to Patton's maximum variation criterion and contacted personally, after an informed consent process. Semi-structured interviews and focus group were performed, analyzed by open coding, using the constant comparison method, with the Atlas-ti 7.5.2 software.

RESULTS: Six conditions of the educational context that can support the teaching role in these careers emerged. Namely, a clinical field suited for patient attention and teaching, classrooms designed for the new educational models, number of students in the classrooms and clinical settings, insertion programs for teachers' training, teachers' coordination and economic resources of the program.

CONCLUSIONS: Health Sciences programs are developed in a complex educational context, having to articulate diverse elements to train professionals. Therefore, it is fundamental to understand the conditions of the educational context that can favor the practice of the teaching role, thus generating improvements in teaching-learning process.