• Delio Eulalio Martins, Ana Cristina Kuhn Pletsch Roncati, Robson Oliveira Rocha, and Marcos Paulo Freire.
• Universidade Anhembi Morumbi, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
• Sao Paulo Med J. 2020 Jun 1; 138 (3): 229234229-234.

BackgroundMusculoskeletal disorders account for up to one in four of general-practice consultations and almost one third of complaints in primary-care clinical practice. However, an insufficient amount of time and importance is given to their teaching in most medical schools.ObjectiveTo evaluate the acquisition of musculoskeletal competences in our institution, in order to identify flaws and propose changes to correct and improve the musculoskeletal curriculum.Design And SettingCross-sectional study conducted in São Paulo, Brazil.MethodsFirst to fifth-year medical students were enrolled in a survey using the Freedman and Bernstein musculoskeletal examination, in order to evaluate the acquisition of musculoskeletal competencies. Categorical data were analyzed using the chi-square test. Continuous data were analyzed using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The level of significance was set as P < 0.05.ResultsA total of 545 students completed the questionnaire: from year 2, 115/167 (29.6%); from year 3, 118/138 (30.4%); from year 4, 98/130 (25.3%); and from year 5, 57/110 (14.7%). None of the students achieved the pass mark (established as 70%). The level of confidence in performing musculoskeletal examination was very low (3.7 ± 2.2; n = 386) and bore no relationship to the percentage of correct answers in the questionnaire (r = 0.331; 95% confidence interval, CI: 0.239-0.417; P < 0.001).ConclusionUndergraduate teaching is the only exposure most general practitioners have to orthopedic problems. Universities are concerned about the adequacy of the musculoskeletal programs taught in their institutions. Student scores were found to be unsatisfactory in all the topics evaluated.

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