The medical education and the extended general practice: results of a Brazilian experiment

This is a qualitative study that is part of an evaluation research of a medicine course with the use of active teaching-learning methodologies based on the triangulation of methods. The aim is to evaluate the results related to the extended general practice concept. The sources of information used in the study include 17 semi-structured interviews with ex-prisoners and a situation that simulated the medical practice, of which seven ex-prisoners and a simulated patient participated. The analysis of the information and the production of the data were based on the method of interpretation of senses, according to the referential hermeneutic-dialectic system. The results point to aspects that justify the extended general practice, evidenced in two themes: the doctor-patient relationship and the patient approach. In conclusion, it is observed that the evaluated medical course brings together the education of the general, humanist, critical and reflexive doctor that may intervene in the different levels of health attention as well as in the individual and collective approach. It is also concluded that there are limits in operating an extended general practice in diverse health situations.