Bases for an adequate expansion and development of Family and Community Medicine Residency Programs

Abstract

This article is a version of the original document published in 2005 under the same title by the Brazilian Society of Family and Community Medicine (BSFCM) (full text available at <www.sbmfc.org.br>), adapted for this supplement of the Revista Brasileira de Medicina de Família e Comunidade. The text defines Family and Community Medicine (FCM) as a medical specialty focused on biopsychosocial integrality an on Primary Care as privileged scenario, in distinct opposition to the medical specialties. The health policies historically adopted in Brazil used to give priority to a hospital-centered care model, hampering the strengthening of Primary Care and Family and Community Medicine. This trend however is changing due to the implementation of the Family Health Strategy and the international experience in this area. In this context, the BSFCM in cooperation with the Ministry of Health are encouraging the expansion of the Family and Community Medicine Residency Programs. Considering the importance of expanding the residency programs without loosing quality, the BSFCM elaborated a document presenting a set of criteria and recommendations in accordance with the guidelines of the National Commission of Medical Residency, the organism regulating these programs, to be used as a basis. In this article we recover the requirements nd recommendations for the organization of the program, the chronogram of activities and the basic competences to be developed during the program. Furthermore we reanalyze the requisites in terms of infrastructure and service flow necessary for creating a practice environment favorable for in-service training.We finalize with a brief report about the most recent actions of the BSFCM for minimizing the current gap between offer and demand of preceptors specialized in Family and Community Medicine.