System of actions to enhance clinical skills in medical procedures of Internal Medicine residents
Keywords:
patient quality of life; clinical skills; medical procedures; professional performance; postgraduate medical educationAbstract
Introduction: Internal Medicine residency training requires solid clinical skills; however, heterogeneity in teaching and insufficient systematization of practice limit professional competence, thereby impacting patient safety.
Objective: To develop a system of actions to enhance the clinical skills regarding medical procedures among Internal Medicine residents at the "Faustino Pérez" Provincial Clinical-Surgical Teaching Hospital.
Methods: A descriptive, observational, and proposal-oriented study with a mixed-methods approach was conducted between January 2025 and January 2026. Participants included 14 faculty members and 38 residents. Data collection involved document review, observation guides, resident surveys, and faculty interviews. Instruments were validated using expert judgment (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.958). Statistical analysis was descriptive, utilizing absolute and relative frequencies. Ethical approval and informed consent were obtained.
Results: The cognitive dimension showed a high level among faculty (90%) and a low level among residents (52%); the ethical-attitudinal dimension was high for both groups (90% and 85%); the procedural-methodological dimension was moderate among faculty (60%) and low among residents (52%). Key weaknesses identified included: insufficient specification of training actions within the curriculum, limited methodological preparation among faculty, lack of systematic practice regarding procedures, and limited technical proficiency among residents. The proposed system of actions was validated by experts (75% rated it as "highly adequate").
Conclusions: The assessment revealed significant gaps in the residents' procedural proficiency. The developed system of actions serves as a tool to strengthen clinical training at the postgraduate level.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Jorge Luis Delgado-Morejón , Diamela Reyes-Licea , Reinaldo Rodríguez-Rodríguez , Eloisa González-Pique , Luis Secada-Cárdenas
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