Surgical/medical competences, self-perception among a group of students recently graduated

Medical professional proficiency comprises a set of skills, knowledge, and attitudes necessary to efficiently accomplish the practice of medicine. We undertook this study to identify the surgical/medical competencies (SMC) acquired by a group of students after graduating from the Faculty of Medicine, National Autonomous University of Mexico. This was a cross-sectional, comparative, observational, and prospective study. Students from the class (1999-2003) who accepted to participate were included in the study. Thirty SMC were evaluated as well as demographic and academic background data from the graduates. Data were analyzed using Mann-Whitney, Kruskal-Wallis andX2tests. Of 341 interviewees, 310 subjects participated in the study; 61% of all participants were females. Mean age at graduation was 25 years; 66% of all participants concluded their medical training in 6 years; 30% of the interviewees had a < or = 8.0-point grade average score; 62% concluded their 6th school year in a Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) and/or in a Ministry of Health (SSa) facility. Subjects reported having little or no command over 21/30 listed SMCs. Female participants rated themselves as less proficient than their male counterparts (p < or = 0.05). The presence of three other concomitant factors among several participants negatively influenced their self-perception of whether or not they possessed certain skills. A group of recently graduated physicians subjectively perceived themselves as possessing partial or no command over the SMCs included in the Surgery Department syllabus. These results must be completed through an objective assessment.