OBJECTIVES: To describe the curricular matrices of pediatrics teaching in the medical schools of the city of Recife and metropolitan region, analyzing their adequacy in relation to the national guidelines. METHODS: Cross-sectional study. Data collection was done through a standardized form and the information provided by the coordinators or the teachers in a face-to-face interview. We dealt with aspects related to the hours of undergraduate and pediatric teaching activities; the moment of insertion of pediatrics in the curriculum grid and practical learning scenarios. The sample was composed by the six medical schools. RESULTS: The legal nature of the institutions was as follows: federal public 1/6, state public 1/6, and private 4/6. As for the hours of medical school, all schools had a workload of more than 7,000 hours and the workload allocated to pediatrics ranged from 601 to over 1,000 hours. The first contact of students with pediatrics occurred in the first year of the course in four of the institutions, while in others, is introduced at the second and the third year. All institutions carry out the evaluation of clinical knowledge in the first four years of the undergraduate course. CONCLUSION: It was verified that the teaching of pediatrics developed in the medical schools evaluated presents differences in the workload, although the majority ends up contemplating the objectives of the national curricular guidelines. The increase in the workload of pediatrics was related to the implementation of the family health strategy.