The term general practitioner is common in Ireland, the United
Kingdom, some other Commonwealth countries, and Bulgaria. In the
English-speaking countries the word medical practitioner is
largely reserved for certain other types of medical specialists,
notably in internal medicine. Family medicine, on the other
hand, has evolved only recently in Brazil as a separate
specialization of general practice. It is a concept which was
adapted from several community health models in Europe, such as
in Italy, but particularly the one which was created
successfully in Cuba, and which was felt to be the most adequate
to Brazilian reality. Around 10 years ago, the government
recognized that primary health care in Brazil was poorly
organized and fraught with many problems, including a lack of
attractiveness to young physicians, so a different approach, the
Family Health Program (Programa de Saúde da Família or PSF) was
tried, initially with some failures, but later with increasing
strength and coverage. By spending a great