INTRODUCTION: This article describes students' evaluations of an innovative educational experience that connects the construction of knowledge to individuals' subjective issues. The course entitled "Life Cycle Development" is administered during the third semester of medical school and uses playful activities and autobiographical narrative as the methodology, while seeking to understand the typical psychological processes over the course of life, from conception to senescence, and to describe the interpersonal skills required in medical practice. OBJECTIVE: To describe the evaluation by students who have taken the course in terms of its effects on their education. METHODOLOGY: A qualitative, descriptive study was conducted in a private university in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, consisting of a domain content analysis of 7 semi-structured interviews with students from each semester since the subject was first introduced. The study was approved by the university's Institutional Review Board. RESULTS: The methodology was perceived by interviewees as a positive learning strategy, and students reported that the course was significant in defining their professional backgrounds. DISCUSSION/REMARKS: Knowledge is acquired through reflective processes that enable individuals to perceive their limits and possibilities, qualifying their interpersonal skills. Humanization emerges spontaneously, confirming the effect of this course on the construction of the students' professional identity