This paper intends to present some reflections from an institutionalist perspective about the extension experience of PUC-Minas University, developed with the PSF (Programa Saúde da Família - Family Health Program) in the municipality of Betim, a city located in the metropolitan region of Belo Horizonte (state of Minas Gerais). The diagnosis was performed to understand the reality of the professional practice of the PSF team and the interns' possibilities of action, based on the theoretical framework of Institutional Analysis proposed by René Lourau. The conclusion is that the conception of an assistance model still connected with the idea of health associated with a physician, the lack of knowledge about the territory, the high usage of medicines, the lack of articulation between mental health care and primary care, the presupposition of hierarchic relationships of knowledge and power, and the difficulty in working with groups hinder the adhesion to the PSF model in the daily routine. In this context, discussions are essential so that the psychologists can enter this field, being capable of transforming and inventive practices.
Public Health Service; Primary Health Care; Family Health Program (PSF); Institutional Analysis