[Knowledge of the Advance Directive (AD) in Physicians at Tertiary Care Hospitals].

Unlabelled: The Advance Directive is generally conceptualized as the respect that all human beings deserve in the use of their faculties, to deliberate, choose, and decide upon everything that pertains to their existence, including their life goals and personal health.

Objective: To identify knowledge about the AD that Medical Residents at tertiary care facilities of the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS) in the District Capital (Mexico City), possess.

Method: Written survey with 10 questions for Medical Residents (MR) of different specialties at tertiary care hospitals.

Study Design: Survey.

Results: The questionnaire was applied to 280 MR of more than ten different specialties, at the La Raza and the S XXI Medical Centres (Centro Médico La Raza y Centro Médico Siglo XXI). The majority of respondents were first-year MR (67.5%), and the minority were sixth-year Residents (1.9%). Incomplete knowledge about the Federal AD Law exists.

Discussion: In Mexico, like on an international plane, the contemporary, social dynamic has fundamentally influenced the practice of healthcare professions. The responsibilities that health care professionals take on obligate them to be current in areas like the rights of healthy and sick individuals to be involved in and decide on aspects related to the phase at the end of their lives. The AD, Vital Testament, Living Will, will push doctors to improve the doctor-patient relationship since the establishment of an AD is not possible without a good patient-doctor rapport.