[Training in public health policies and mastery of information for professional development]

This paper analyses the Public Policies and Health Course offered by the Graduate Studies Program at the National School of Public Health, Brazil. Its purpose is to review the historical constitution of this area as policy praxis and a field of knowledge designed to train specialists engaged in policy formulation implementation and evaluation. It describes the course development experience, based on an analysis of the documents produced by the Graduate Studies Coordination in this area, systematized in alterations to subjects that reflect the educational objectives, contents and proposals deployed over time. Grounded on a concept of Government policies committed to fine-turning democracy within the context of the emergence and development of the state healthcare function in Brazil, it indicates the need for permanent renewal of training systems for specialists in this field. The modernization of research methods and techniques is crucial, closely linked to progress in the field of healthcare data and information technology. A shift is noted, moving away from a certain isolation and lack of dialog in the Program area towards a tighter focus on Public Health and complex methodological approaches that correspond to the constructed objects.