Comprehensive and humanized care provides the underlying principles for the Botucatu School of Medicine (FMB/UNESP) in reorienting health professionals' training with the development of research and continuing education in the Family Health Strategy. This article analyzed the first year in the Educational Program for Health Work (PET-Saúde) developed by the School of Medicine and the Botucatu Municipal Health Department. The following research themes were selected: oral health in pregnant women, children, and the elderly; immunization in adolescents; health of adults and the elderly; and health and the environment. Workshops were held on the problem-solving methodology, producing intervention models in which students, faculty, and health professionals from local health services were the protagonists. The program is a spin-off of the course on Interaction between the University, Health Services, and the Community, given jointly to the courses in medicine and nursing. There is resistance inside the university, recognizing the devaluation of outpatient clinical practice and primary care. In this process, the PET-Saúde program is intended to strengthen academic practice that links the university with its teaching, research, services, and extension activities to demands from society, in a shared approach.