Introduction:

The prevention of disease and harm in individuals, the family and the community is one of the roles of the family doctor and nurse. A factor to be taken into account in the prevalence of congenital defects is their inadequate prevention. At the primary or preconceptional level, this would be achieved with adequate professional performance.

Objective:

To systematize the theoretical-methodological referents that support the professional performance of the family doctor in the preconceptional prevention of congenital defects.

Methods:

A bibliographic review on the professional performance of the family doctor and the preconceptional prevention of congenital defects was carried out in the Virtual Health Library of Infomed, in the Scopus, SciELO, Redalyc, Latindex and Dialnet databases, in Spanish and English, as well as in five books. The following descriptors were used for the search: desempeño profesional [professional performance], médico de la familia [family doctor], defectos congénitos [congenital defects] and prevención [prevention]. After applying inclusion/exclusion criteria, 26 bibliographies were selected for their scientific quality and topicality.

Results:

Different researchers approach the professional performance process from different areas of pedagogical sciences and medical education. The authors take on theoretical positions related to the professional performance of the family doctor in preconceptional prevention of congenital defects, as well as the need for permanent and continuous preparation to improve their professional performance.

Conclusions:

The systematization carried out on professional performance of the family doctor in preconceptional prevention of congenital defects allowed establishing an approach to the theoretical referents that support the subject.