With the creation and expansion of the Family Health Program in Brazil, Family and Community Medicine (FCM) has gained attention as the most adequate medical specialty for work in the program. Recent partnerships between the Ministries of Health and Education have aimed to regulate the undergraduate and graduate training of health professionals to meet the demands for consolidation of the Unified National Health System (SUS). Investments have been made to increase the number of residency positions in FCM, but there appears to be a mismatch between future physicians' career goals and the National Health System's needs, as shown by the number of unfilled positions in these residency programs. In order to help explain this lack of interest in FCM, we conducted a review of studies focusing on the theme. We found that low prestige, low pay, limited contact with primary care during undergraduate medical training, and heavy student indebtedness were the most common factors. We conclude that it is necessary to investigate these hypotheses in the Brazilian context and thus propose a corresponding research agenda.
Family Practice; Internship and residency; Career choice
