(1) Background: Highway toll plazas are environments impacted by atmospheric pollutants that may affect workers’ health. However, there are still few studies on these environments. This study evaluated particulate matter (PM) concentrations by size fraction (PM_10–9.0 to PM_0.43) and associated arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb) and vanadium (V) at two toll plazas in Brazil. (2) Methods: PM and trace element concentrations were compared between dry and rainy seasons, and a health risk assessment was conducted for toll collectors based on inhalation exposure. (3) Results: PM_10–2.5 concentrations ranged from 31.8 to 360 µg m⁻³ in the dry season and from non-detectable to 287 µg m⁻³ in the rainy season. PM_2.5 levels varied between 14.9 and 150 µg m⁻³ (dry) and 3.46–174 µg m⁻³ (rainy). Although trace element concentrations were within Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) limits, the hazard quotient (HQ) for manganese and arsenic exceeded unity (HQ > 1), indicating potential health risks. (4) Conclusions: These findings suggest that toll plaza workers may experience increased inhalation-related risk under the exposure assumptions used. Improved ventilation and protective measures, including the use of protective screens, are recommended to reduce occupational exposure.

Introdução: A avaliação do perfil das internações hospitalares oferece uma compreensão abrangente sobre a epidemiologia da morbidade dos agravos em saúde para fins de vigilância em Saúde Pública e elaboração de ações preventivas. Objetivo: Caracterizar o perfil de hospitalizações na região de Saúde do Baixo Amazonas, Oeste do Pará, entre 2018 a 2020. Métodos: Trata-se de um estudo descritivo e quantitativo realizado com dados secundários coletados no departamento de informática do Sistema Único de Saúde (DATASUS). Resultados: As hospitalizações na região de estudo estiveram preferencialmente atribuídas às questões de gravidez, parto e puerpério; doenças infecto parasitárias e lesões, envenenamentos e causas externas, sendo as duas últimas relacionadas a indivíduos do gênero masculino e da cor parda. Quanto à idade, crianças de 1 a 4 anos e indivíduos acima de 50 anos obtiveram elevados percentuais de hospitalização por doenças infecto parasitárias. As internações por gravidez, parto e puerpério e por lesões, envenenamento e causas externas foram superiores na faixa etária de 20 a 29 anos. As hospitalizações por doenças digestivas estiveram relacionadas ao gênero masculino; e doenças geniturinárias ao gênero feminino, mas em ambos a faixa etária predominante foi de 20 a 39 anos. Conclusão: O levantamento realizado mostra que a assistência em saúde relacionada ao ciclo gravídico-puerperal deve ser priorizada na região de estudo, além disso, ações estratégicas preventivas para minimizar a hospitalização por doenças infectocontagiosas, parasitárias, envenenamentos e causas externas devem implementadas através da melhoria das condições de vida da população e de ações de educação em saúde. Demais causas, como doenças do aparelho digestivo e respiratório devem ser investigadas por novos estudos. Palavras-chave: ecossistema amazônico; hospitalização; regionalização da saúde; sistemas de informação hospitalar.

Introduction: Qualitative knowledge in health education is increasingly essential for critical, reflective and interdisciplinary training for graduates of the health field, as well as the necessary articulation of the use of qualitative research methodology grounded in the concepts of human and social sciences. Objective: to expose the importance of knowledge and qualitative methodological elements in health training in the Brazilian Amazon scenario. Method: This is an experience report with the use of qualitative research methodology, which took as reference the curricular component of Interaction on a Real Basis (IBR), of the three undergraduate courses in the area of health (collective health, pharmacy and interdisciplinary), taught during the first four semesters by the Institute of Collective Health (ISCO) of the Federal University of Western Pará (UFOPA), in the Brazilian Amazon region. Results: The experience produced through the use of qualitative research methodology in this curriculum component, occurred in activities developed in the classroom space and in the field of practice (Amazonian communities). Among the methodological elements of qualitative research used are: observation, ethnography for the production of listening, bonding with people from the community investigated, recognition of culture and identity, ethnic and linguistic diversity in scenarios of socioeconomic inequality that coexist in these territories, urban and rural spaces, indigenous communities, quilombolas and riverine communities. The use of the methodological elements of qualitative research enabled the development of qualitative scientific knowledge in health education, through conceptual, textual and contextual construction. In addition, the experiences produced with the communities of the Brazilian Amazon region, unveil the multiplicity of ways of living and doing health, allowing a broad field for qualitative teaching in health. Conclusions: The knowledge of qualitative research is essential to support the teaching-learning process articulated with the field practice, aiming at the construction of new perspectives and methodological paths that go beyond the disciplinary boundaries of the health field.