Primary care education: medical student and young doctors’ perspective from Brazil, India and Portugal

Abstract

This opinion paper is a collaborative effort describing recent developments in primary care education in three different countries; representing diverse socioeconomic and political systems. The authors describe their respective perspectives from the point of student (Brazil), trainee (Portugal) and young doctor (India). The section on Brazil focuses on the response of the medical education system to the developments before and after political reforms, leading to creation of the Unified Health System. The Indian experience focuses on the challenges faced by recently qualified doctors and ongoing debates about the medical education system in a highly populated but rapidly growing economy. The Portuguese section presents an evolving primary care education system for family doctors and describes the detail of the training programme. Education in primary care is an ever-evolving process that needs to be adequate for each country’s health care system. Reading and learning from other experiences may highlight education strategies that may be adopted by peers from other countries. Medical students, doctors in training and recently qualified doctors are the key stakeholders in this process.