Origins and possibilities of development of family and community medicine in Uruguay

Family and community medicine (FCM) in Uruguay recognizes two historical references that, in the context of the struggle against the dictatorship, spawned a people-oriented and scientifically-driven medicine. The Integrated National Health System (SNIS), created in 2007, is based on primary care and is consistent with curriculum reform undertaken in the medical career, which was reoriented towards people and students. The FCM residency was established in 1997 and has had a rapid expansion but is still insufficient for the needs of the model proposed by the NHIS. The policy to reprofile doctors’ role in the primary care level has not occurred. Since 2010, the Teaching and Clinical Care Units were set up in the public subsector in order to potentiate health services and to conduct research and teaching in primary care. In 2011, the Uruguayan Family and Community Society was created as an expression of the strengthening and growth of family medicine in the country. Notwithstanding, the road is still fraught with difficulties.