In Brazil there are not enough vacancies for Medical Residency (MR) and a very high competition for vacancies in certain specialties and regions. This favors the establishment of Preparatory Courses (PCs) for MR tests. Medical students have been increasingly neglecting their curricular activities for en rolling in these Preparatory Courses. For evaluating the effectiveness of these courses, a questionnaire was applied to the candidates for MR at the University Hospital of Federal University of Juiz de Fora. 74.7% from the 368 applicants agreed to participate in the study, most of which (72%) were frequenting PCs. There was no significant difference in the rate of approval among the candidates who had prepared themselves in PCs and those who did not. On the other hand, the average grade of the candidates that took PCs was 4.07 points higher (66.89 versus 62.82, p < 0.05). It is concluded that in the traditional evaluation model, whose theoretical test corresponds to 90% of the final grade, the preparation of the students who took PCs is more effective, valuing memorization above medical abilities. Thus, the 50/50 model, in which the practical test corresponds to 50% of the final grade, can be considered an adequate proposal.
Internship and residency; Teaching; Learning
