The scope of this article was to establish the profile of Primary Health Care (PHC) managers in 49 small municipalities (up to 20,000 inhabitants) in the north of the state of Paraná. A semi-structured questionnaire was applied to 90 managers in a quantitative-based study. For statistical analysis the EpiInfo 3.5.1. program was used. The results of the manager profile showed that 91.1% were women, 83.3% nurses, 50% aged 21 to 30 years and 75.6% with specialization. Concerning the entry into employment, 70% were through public exam/selective test. Regarding professional experience, 40% had worked professionally for more than 5 years, 43.4% had been involved in PHC up to 5 years and 32.2% had been in the current primary health care unit for less than 1 year. Regarding specific training for performing a managerial role, 71.1% had not taken any courses; only 23.3% reported having taken a management course, though 37.7% had already acted as managers. The conclusion reached is that there is a lack of professionalism, training and institutionalization of the position for the performance of this function.
Public health; Health service administration; Primary Health Care; Management; Health management