Interns' identification of patients' health risks in a casualty department

This study examined whether the interns who staffed a hospital casualty department identified correctly four common health risks among their patients. When compared with patients who were attending general practitioners, patients who attended the casualty department were more likely to be cigarette smokers. They were also more likely to be heavy drinkers of alcohol and to score highly on a standardized measure of psychological disturbance. Women were less likely to have undergone a Papanicolaou smear-examination within the previous two years. The interns, who were the subjects in this study, failed to identify 56% of the smokers, 84% of the heavy drinkers, 35% of the psychologically-disturbed patients and 95% of the women who had not undergone a Papanicolaou smear-test in the last two years. The findings were in contrast with the interns' own opinions on what would constitute good-quality care in this setting. The subjects were just beginning their internship at the time of the study. Their failure to integrate important questions about common health risks suggests that their undergraduate training has been deficient in this area. The internship is the last formal opportunity to correct this deficiency before these doctors are registered for independent medical practice.