The Evaluation of Consultations Performed by the Internal Medicine Clinic of a Tertiary University Hospital: Single Center Study

Evaluation of Internal Medicine Consultations

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the general characteristics of patients who applied to the outpatient and inpatient clinics of our hospital and for whom internal medicine consultation was requested.

Materials and Methods: Patients aged 18 years and older who requested internal medicine consultation in tertiary university hospital between 01.06.2022 and 01.6.2023 were evaluated.

Results: During this period, internal medicine consultation was requested from 2559 patients whose consultation texts and diagnoses were fully recognized in our hospital. The mean age of the patients for whom consultation was requested was 61.54±18.91 (62; 18-97) years and 51.1% (1307) were male and 48.9% (1252) were female. The most common departments for consultation were emergency and surgical departments (48.1%, 30.3%). The most common reasons for consultation were general internal medicine reasons (27%-699%) such as general condition disorder, oedema, heart failure; gastronteological reasons (26.9%-693%) such as gastrointestinal bleeding, acute pancreatitis, liver dysfunction and nephrological reasons (21.7%-599%) such as elevated BUN, creatinine and electrolyte imbalance.

Conclusion: Determining the profiles of patients for whom internal medicine consultation is requested will be useful in shaping the training programs in institutions that educate staff in this specialty and in improving the quality of health care.