Facts and marks: the memories and achievements of Com Vida Group/Fatos e marcas: das memorias e conquistas do Grupo Com Vida/Hechos y marcas: los recuerdos y logros del GrupoCom Vida

The article presents the experience of Com Vida Group, the most consistent and longstanding group activity of the Family Medicine Department of the Rio de Janeiro State University. We start by describing the global, national and local context in which the group was created, featuring people and their needs regarding AIDS, Pedro Ernesto University Hospital and the Family Medicine ambulatory. We proceed reporting the group's formation, its special attributes, organization, theoretical framework, characteristics, the importance of a team's deliberation space integrating the permanent education process, its interfaces and developments. The work highlights interdisciplinarity, with the participation of multiple healthcare work categories, focusing the participation of the physician during the 20 years of Group activities and the need for collaborative (re)construction. The formation of health care professionals is emphasized, from graduation to residency. The article recovered the experience of the first medical student to join the group, his participation in community activities, especially the Candlelight Memorial: what did he learn? what can he teach us? Along the natural graduation progress, the authors present the outcomes for a former Family Medicine Resident, who took part in the group, what was the impact on his career, and the worries and challenges of this healthcare model. Finally, the article points out the importance of the partnership with people living with HIV, shown in memories and marks that light up the value of Com Vida Group in the 21st century. Keywords: Health education; Comprehensive health care; Self-help groups; HIV; AIDS. Apresentamos a experiencia do Grupo Com Vida, a mais consistente e duradoura do trabalho/ensino com grupos do Departamento de Medicina Integral, Familiar e Comunitaria da Faculdade de Ciencias Medicas da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FCM-UERJ). Iniciamos descrevendo o contexto mundial, nacional e local no momento de construcao do grupo, caracterizando as pessoas e suas necessidades a luz da AIDS, do Hospital Universitario Pedro Ernesto e do Ambulatorio de Medicina Integral. Seguimos com a constituicao do grupo, seus atributos essenciais, organizacao, referencial teorico de sustentacao, caracteristicas, importancia do espaco de reflexao de equipe como parte do processo de educacao permanente, suas interfaces e desdobramentos. Destacamos a interdisciplinaridade com a participacao de profissionais de diferen