INTERNATO EM CLÍNICA MÉDICA - O PRONTO ATENDIMENTO COMO ATIVIDADE

Summary: The authors analised the written reports of the internship students on duty on the first-aid clinic of the HUSM, from January 1984 to December 1985. The chapters of International Diseases Classification with the highest incidence were "Respiratory Tract Diseases" (2055 cases, 15,42%), "Sintomas, Signes and Ill-deffined Affections" (1951 cases, 14,64%), "Lesions and Poisonings" (1701 cases, 12,76%), "Circulatory Tract Diseases" (1247 cases, 9,36%). Acute respiratory infections (1120 cases, 8,40%), hypertension (508 cases, 4,35%) and non psicotic mental disturbances (522 cases, 3,92%) were the most frequent diseases. Each intern spent about 13,87h on duty per week. The greatest part of the consultations were not urgent, so many diagnosis were poorly defined. The authors analised these factors implying that the interns need a better orientation on emergency service medicine, as wel1 as that this service needs to adequate to the local reality.