ABSTRACT
The death certificate is the base document for the Ministry of Health’s Mortality Information System. However, this is a subject rarely addressed in continuing medical education. The objective of this study is to assess the knowledge about basic and practical issues in completing and issuing death certificates among 6th year medical students from UFRN, residents and medical professors from the UFRN Hospital Complex. A questionnaire was used containing eleven multiple choice questions, prepared in accordance with the Death Certificate Completion Manual. 45 students, 66 medical residents and 96 medical professors participated in the study. The residents obtained the highest average score of the three groups. None of the groups obtained a mean score of 70%. Considering the amount of training in relation to the number of correct answers, it was observed that for each year of training, the success rate decreased by 0.485%. This study highlights the importance of continuing medical education in medical schools for proper completion and issuance of death certificates.
Death Certificate; Medical Students; Medical Education