PORTUGUESE FAMILY MEDICINE RESIDENCY PROGRAM

- The reorganization of national Primary Care services led to social recognition of family doctors and their internship. We describe Portuguese residency program since its beginning. - We consulted open literature sources and the national legislation. - Family Medicine internship was created in 1981. Until 1987, 230 residents joined the program, but the medical career was opened to unspecialized physicians. Since 1987, internship has become the only way to access the profession. The training capacity has increased from then on. In 2016, 473 young doctors have joined the internship, distributed nationwide. The national council manages the program, assisted by regional commissions and local directions, which meet regularly with teachers and trainees. Teachers are key elements, acting as competency coaches and clinical preceptors. There are support manuals for every stage of the program and for the evaluation events. Their contents were obtained by consensus, according to the core competencies outlined by EURACT 2005 (European Academy of Teachers in General Practice). The 48-month residency has 4 stages in primary care facilities, interspersed with obligatory hospital practice (child, woman, mental health and emergency). Additionally, trainees are allocated up to 6 months in optional areas and can spend up to 15 days per year attending conferences and training. There are mandatory and optional courses. There is curricular discussion, practical and theoretical evaluation, annually and by the end of residency. 93.5% of trainees have high initial motivation, 89% remain intrinsically motivated and 92.6% are globally committed in practice, which demonstrates the program success.