From the specific actions to government mark: medicine in the trajectory of the national policy of education and work regulation in health

Abstract This article analyzes the trajectory of the Brazilian policy of education and work regulation considering institutional issues and forms of incorporation of medicine on the policy, comprising the period from 2003 to 2015. This study was based on contributions of historical institutionalism, involving the analysis of legal and normative documents, interviews with state personnel and data from federal financing reports of the policy. Five key moments were defined, considering political-institutional contexts, governmental initiatives, and the insertion of medicine into the agenda of governments. The emphasis on the medical profession evolved from one-off actions to the status of a landmark, in a context of loss of space of the health workforce agenda and increasing prioritization of education actions, associated with institutional gains and changes in funding. The More Doctors Program resulted from the dynamics of the trajectory, incorporating advances in the training and incorporation of physicians into the Unified Health System of Brazil. Challenges remain, however, related to precarious employment relationships, the privatization of medical education, and professional regulation that considers the exercise of medicine in the private sector.