André Rosa Biscaia is an integrated researcher of the PrimeCare – Primary Health Care Research group, of TL1 – Thematic Line Preventive Health and Societal Challenges, from CINTESIS – Center for Health Technology and Services Research.

Born in Lisbon in 1965, he has lived most of his life in Portugal’s capital, with the exception of a year in Paris, where his father, an engineer by profession, did an internship in the Paris Métro. As a child, he spent his holidays in Figueira da Foz, where his father was born (his mother came from the north of the country).

André Rosa Biscaia wanted to be an engineer, but ended up studying medicine at the Nova Medical School, Nova University of Lisbon, in 1990. He finished his internship in General Practice in 1996 and was the first doctor in his immediate family. He also has a PhD in International Health (Health and Development Policies) from the Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (IHMT) at the Nova University of Lisbon (2010).

“Just like many young people, I thought I was going to become an engineer, like my father. At 15 years old I took a vocational test and Engineering didn’t even come up, but what did come up was Architecture and Medicine. That’s when I chose Medicine. It’s not a very romantic story [laughs]. I didn’t really like the course, it was very hospital-based, but, during my internship, I discovered General Medicine (at the time it was called General Practice) and I realised I wanted to be a family doctor,” he says.

Today André Rosa Biscaia defines himself essentially as “a family doctor with a special interest in training and research in health services”. He works as a clinician at the Unidade de Saúde Familiar Marginal, in Cascais. He has been working for the USF since 2007 but his connection to the Cascais Health Centre dates back to 1998.

Since his graduation, he has been doing research and is currently part of CINTESIS. In this subject, his interests include job satisfaction, the contractualisation and evaluation of services, the macro and micro organisation of health systems, human resource planning, the validation of measurement instruments, and the violence against health professionals. He admits that research is not yet as rooted in Primary Health Care professionals as it is in hospitals, but he highlights that there have never been as many PhD graduates in General Medicine as there are now.

“When I started my profession, there were none. It is essential that this research is also done in the workplaces where Primary Health Care is carried out, in proper conditions and with real life people”, he says.

André Rosa Biscaia is proud to have always been connected to associative movements, firstly student movements (he usually says that his first general meeting of students – RGA – was in the 4th grade, in 1974), then professional and civic movements, namely professional and scientific associations, trade unions (such as FNAM), professional orders (Ordem dos Médicos) and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In December 2021 he was elected president of USF- AN (National Association of Family Health Units).  This association recently conducted a study on the impact of the pandemic on the USF, which listened to the professionals at the workplace and presented solutions that are already in practice, namely automating the bureaucratic part of care.

“There has never been so much talk about Primary Health Care and we have contributed to this reality, especially responding to COVID-19. The big problem is that all PHC activity has now been almost entirely focused on the pandemic and often regarding useless activities, such as having doctors in vaccination centres and a lot of  bureaucracy that is associated. My work is better invested in seeing patients,” he believes.

Training is another “vital area” of his professional life, both in undergraduate studies and in the Complementary Internship of General Medicine and other medical specialties, as well as in post-graduate studies as a guest lecturer at various Higher Education institutions, while continuing to teach at the Faculty of Medicine of Lisbon.

In the past, among other activities, he was an advisor to the Board of Directors of the Regional Health Administration of Lisbon and the Tagus Valley (ARSLVT). In addition to several scientific articles, he has published 15 books or chapters of books, and studied and written mainly on health system reforms, in particular on Primary Health Care, and also integrated a World Health Organization (WHO) report. He has received more than a dozen prizes, in particular the AstraZeneca Foundation Grand Prize 2005 for his work “Primary Health Care in Portugal – Reforming for New Successes”.

André Rosa Biscaia also currently coordinates the Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence in the Health Sector, within the Directorate General for Health (PAPVSS). The aim is to promote a safer organisational environment based on a culture of non-violence in the sector.

He is married and has a 23 year old son.

1-Year Ambition

When it comes to research, we have been able to prove that it is easy, relatively quick and very useful implementing systems for listening to professionals in the workplace. Just like USF-AN did with the approach concerning the impact of the pandemic in Primary Health Care. We want to implement this type of consultation in other areas, by creating measurement instruments, such as questionnaires.

10-Year Ambition

That is my intention: to create these mechanisms in order to listen to health professionals and extend them to the whole population. That will make a difference. Involving the population also makes them accountable for the choices that are made as well as the way in which care is provided. The  municipalities with participatory budgets experiment is very interesting. We have to bring this to health. In my opinion, research has to have a practical use.

Life Beyond Teaching and Research

I do many activities and I have many other interests. I really like photography. During medical school, I stopped for a year to do a photography course and I did an exhibition. Photography was something I’ve always liked.

I also love reading and writing, which I do every day. There’s a book I’m reading now, which sums up a lot of the things I like: “Lisbon Cliché” by Daniel Blaufuks. It has black and white photographs and short, intense texts about the way of life and places I knew in my adolescence.

At home, I really enjoy watching and discussing series and films with my wife and son.