Final clinical aptitude among internship hospitals settings in Nuevo León

Introduction: Clinical aptitude (ClAp) is essential in medical interns´ (MI) during their undergraduate internship. Its evaluation is indispensable. Aim: To compare the final clinical aptitude of MI in various hospital settings. Method: Medical Interns (MI) in natural groups who completed their undergraduate internship (UI) in five different hospitals. Seventy (70) MI were studied in a sample obtained in a census. A valid and consistent (KR: 0.77) final instrument was applied at the end of the UI and included 30 clinical cases (CC) and five indicators: risk factors (RF), diagnosis (DX), paraclinicals (PCL), treatment (Tx) and prognosis (PRN), encompassing internal medicine (IM), pediatrics (PED), family medicine (FM), emergency medicine (EM), general surgery (GS) and obstetricsgynecology (OG). There were 75 items per module, totaling 450. We requested data on the MI grade average and university of origin. Incomplete or inadequately completed surveys were excluded. Non-parametric sta-tistics: to compare every module´s medians and that of every rotation (Kruskal-Wallis). Hospitals were compared (Mann-Whitney U test). The average university grade was correlated with the overall median (Spearman). Answers were determined randomly. Results: There was no correlation between the university grade averages and the overall medians. A low ClAp was detected in the hospital settings (Median: 177/450). There were significant differences in favor of G₁ and G₅ in almost all modules and indicators vs. G₄. The highest medians were obtained in EM (50/75) and FM (43/75) while the lowest were in O-G (5/75). Results were NS in RF and PCL. The highest values were observed in PRN (48%), followed by DX (41%) and TX (33%). Comparisons between universities were NS in IM, GS, RF, PCL and PRN. Results were low in acute appendicitis, labor, preeclampsia and pyelonephritis. Comments: ClAp was found to be lacking. A stricter following of the MI´s development is warranted.