ABSTRACT
Historically, Uruguay had two significant periods of primary care research, during the 1960s and 1980s. Hugo Dibarboure Icasuriaga, a rural physician from the Florida Department, applied the scientific method to describe his community, the health service and the environment, as a resource and as feedback on his clinical practice. Rebuilding the country after the period of authoritarianism was a slow process. Research was not a priority, and the start of family and community medicine residency in 1997 was the beginning of a new era that is slowly consolidating primary care with an academic perspective in which research is gradually emerging as a natural activity linked to its pioneers. Since 2008, health reform has emphasised primary healthcare with an orientation towards family and community. The main achievements Uruguay has made are a basic infrastructure, generated through participation in the previously mentioned projects, a collaborative scenario at regional and sub-regional levels, and the development of young researchers with theoretical and practical training.
