Summary:
The professional characteristics of the General Practioner are discussed in order to better evaluate the objectives of the Federal University of Pernambuco Medical Course. Some aspects of the medical education and the availability of jobs for this kind of doctor in the present structure of Brazilian National Health Service are also analysed. Aspirations for the professional life of the last-year medical students are questioned as well as their frustations motivated by the present medical course organization and the scant probabilities of getting jobs in the future. Eighty percent of the last-year medical students answered to a questionaire giving informations about: characteristics of the General Practioner, requirements for its education, availability of jobs and personal aspirations.
The majority of the students stated that they did not know the meaning of the expression “community general physician” officially used to designate the general practioner in Brazil. Being informed about the professional profile of this type of doctor, almost all of the students recognized the great need of the community general doctor in our medical-social-economical reality. However very few of the students intended to follow this specialization. The present curriculum of the medical course and the qualification of the teaching staff, trained for other specialities, were pointed as one of the main handicap for training of the community general doctor.
The relevance of this subject and the approach given to it by the students, make this study of great interest for students, educators and government authorities, and warn for an urgent need of reevaluation of the objectives of the medical course, and of the present national health politics.