The pediatrician's role in the Paideia-Family Health Program in Campinas, Sao Paulo State, Brazil

Brazil is developing a Family Health Program in the Primary Health Care. The Family Health Program's team composition has been criticized as insufficient. One of the criticisms has been about the absence of the pediatrician. This study analyzed the experience of the city of Campinas, Sao Paulo State, which implemented this program with adaptations specifically with the presence of the pediatrician in its 140 teams. Using qualitative methodology and semi-structured interviews, pediatricians and ten family physicians teams were interviewed. The objective was to know their visions about their practice with children's primary health care, the role of each one and about the pediatrician's presence in the team. It was almost an unanimity about the importance of the pediatrician's participation in Primary Health Care, not as a specialty, but because of the improvement of the team's resolubility. Though, the pediatrician's work was considered too focused in the biomedical paradigm and in the office. There is a need for the pediatrician to have more engagement with the psychosocial aspects, the family and territory. It is essential the improvement of the training of pediatricians and family physicians to deal with the complex mission of the primary health care of nowadays.