Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To analyze the contributions of the Public Health Nursing Specialization Course (1988-1992) of Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in improving the expertise and professional status of its graduates. METHOD: Historical and social study in the history of nursing and expertise. The sources included 20 registration forms, enrollment documentation of graduates, and three course documents collected in the Memory Center of Escola de Enfermagem da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, combined with Lattes/CNPq curricula and analyzed through Eliot Freidson's Sociology of Professions. RESULTS: The specialists were selected through a strategy of construction of knowledge for socio-sanitary transformation. The specialization provided support for the professional career of graduates in administrative leadership, management, and visibility positions in public health; the group's profile was focused on academia, which creates its own knowledge. CONCLUSION: The specialization provided its graduates the opportunity to exercise professional autonomy, elevating the state of affairs and contributing to the professionalization of public health nursing.