Reconhecimento de aspectos da genética médica na interpretação de casos clínicos entre discentes do curso de medicina do CESUPA

Abstract

Introduction: The prevalence of genetic diseases and congenital malformations in developing countries is equal or higher than in developed countries. Most of these diseases can be managed in primary care, since diagnostic confirmation methods are common to general medical practice, such as radiography, biochemical tests, ultrasounds and echocardiography. However, generalist doctors and medical students have a mistaken image that the Medical Genetics is a high-cost speciality; only practicable in highly complex hospitals. Therefore, it is necessary for Medical Genetics to become more present in the training of medical students, for the training of the generalist doctors who work in Basic Health Units, attentive to the screening of possible pathologies in the speciality. Objectives: Evaluate the knowledge of students of the Medical Course of CESUPA on Medical Genetics. Method: This is a cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical comparative study that consisted of data collection through the application of a questionnaire for students in the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th, 9th and 12th semesters of the CESUPA medical course, between the months of October and November 2019. The data were tabulated by the Google Forms platform and analyzed via Biostat with appropriate statistical tests. Results: The sample consisted of 135 students, approximately 15% of MD1, 15% of MD2, 20% of MD4, 23% of MD6, 10% of MD9 and 15% of MD12. In the general analysis of correct answers, there was a statistically significant difference (* p = 0.0067) in the average of correct answers between the groups participating in the research. The highest average number of correct answers came from students in the ninth semester of the course (9.1) and the lowest average number of correct answers (6.8) came from the sixth semester of the course, with an average of just 48.6% correct answers. Conclusion: The data analyzed allowed us to conclude that many students had contact with the specialty through tutoring only in the second semester of the course and then these subjects were little reviewed during graduation. Few students considered the family history as an element of anamnesis that is important for the diagnosis of genetic pathologies. This reinforces the need for the insertion of medical genetics in the clinical context for students. The study require a questionnaire validated in the literature. Because of its limitations, it is advisable to continue the presented study. To better validate the knowledge of genetics in the academic environment and the implications for the direction and approach of patients.