More Doctors Program: a critical review of the implementation from the perspective of access and the universalization of health care

Abstract

The scope of this critical narrative review is the analysis of the national literature on the implementation of the More Doctors Program (PMM), from January 2016 to May 2019, distributed according to its three programmatic aspects: 1. Improvement of Infrastructure of the Primary Health Care Networks; 2. Expansion of Vacancies and Courses in Medicine and the Reform of Medical Education; and 3. Emergency Medical Supplies. After consulting the Scielo and Lilacs databases through the key words Programa Mais Médicos, and the English and Spanish equivalents, 37 articles were located, of which 31 were selected because they focused specifically on the implementation of one or more aspects. Aspect 1 had the lowest number of publications, while the highest concentration of articles occurred in aspects 2 and 3, in 2016 and 2019, respectively, depending on the timely implementation of the PMM. The literature analyzed points to successes and weaknesses in the formulation and implementation of the Program. This should be taken into consideration in the elaboration and execution of future projects, based on the expansion of access and the universalization of medical care to vulnerable populations.

Key words:
Review; Public health policy; More Doctors Program; Primary health care