There is a shortage of primary care (PC) physicians in most countries in Latin America. For instance, the proportion of general practitioners (GPs) to specialists in Chile declined from 8 GPs of 10 specialists in 1996 to 6 of 10 in 2004 (1). PC physicians are directly related to the quality of PC services, and therefore, their numbers are a key factor in ensuring adequate coverage by high quality services. In 2011, Colombia had 1 family practitioner per 138 688 inhabitants (2), while Peru had 1 family practitioner per 267 324 inhabitants; however, the ideal ratio has been calculated to be 1 per 2 000 inhabitants (3).Medical students still prefer hospitalrelated specialties. The proportion of ABSTRACTObjective.