Doctor Guimarães Rosa and “his way” of contributing to Family and Community Medicine (FCM)

Abstract

Objective: The pioneering spirit and humanistic sensitivity of Guimarães Rosa in the 1960s in community medicine will be analyzed here as inspiration for what, a decade later, would be termed as General Community Medicine and subsequently as Family and Community Medicine (FCM). Despite the author's persistent claim that he was not "cut out for medicine," elements in the book "Primeiras estórias" are evidence of this pioneering spirit and humanistic sensitivity. Method: This article, centered on an exploratory comparative analysis between the aforementioned work of Guimarães Rosa and the principles and techniques of FCM, seeks to uphold such pioneering spirit by demonstrating the need for a deeper understanding of Guimarães' works to enhance and capacitate an ethnosensitive practice in FCM. Result and Discussion: In the seven selected stories, an alignment with the approach of the FCM doctor can be observed in dealing with community issues, the patient, and their therapeutic journey, relating them to the principle of expanded clinic that advocates the national policy of Humanization (PNH) and enables the patient to comprehend their illness through a process of clarification and autonomy, taking into account their social context. Additionally, points of congruence were observed between the narratives of "Primeiras estórias" and the guidelines of FCM, concerning the family as an entity that directly impacts the patient's health, the community, its beliefs and cultures, and the individual as a critical and reflective being within the community in which they reside. Conclusion: Guimarães Rosa already possessed a well-founded theoretical framework that subsequently solidified in the principles of FCM, wherein the family and community establish themselves as entities that directly influence the patient's health and the construction of an individual as a critical, participative, and reflective being within their community.