Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001687
Sabine Striebich, Nicola H Bauer, Kirsten Dietze-Schwonberg, Melita Grieshop, Annette Kluge-Bischoff, Birgit-Christiane Zyriax, Claudia F Plappert
The objective of academic training is to prepare midwives as independent healthcare professionals to make a substantial contribution to the healthcare of women in their reproductive years as well as to the health of their children and families. This article therefore describes the professional and educational requirements derived from the legal midwifery competencies within the new midwifery act. Furthermore, it identifies the conditions that need to be established to enable midwives in Germany to practise to their full scope in compliance with statutory responsibilities. Educational science, academic efforts, policymaking and accompanying research should work in synergy. This in turn enables midwives to achieve the maximum scope of their skills, with the objective of promoting physiological pregnancies and births. Consequently, it can strengthen early parenthood in alignment with the national health objectives of "health around childbirth". The academisation of the midwifery profession presents a profound opportunity for professional development in Germany. It is essential that midwives receive training based on the principles of educational science and care structures that are yet to be developed. This can enable them to perform within the wide range of their professional tasks to the highest standards, thereby ensuring the optimal care of their clients. Moreover, there is a chance to implement sustainable improvements in healthcare provision for women and their families during the reproductive phase and the period of parenthood in Germany.
{"title":"Academic education of midwives in Germany (part 2): Opportunities and challenges for the further development of the profession of midwifery. Position paper of the Midwifery Science Committee (AHW) in the DACH Association for Medical Education (GMA).","authors":"Sabine Striebich, Nicola H Bauer, Kirsten Dietze-Schwonberg, Melita Grieshop, Annette Kluge-Bischoff, Birgit-Christiane Zyriax, Claudia F Plappert","doi":"10.3205/zma001687","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001687","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objective of academic training is to prepare midwives as independent healthcare professionals to make a substantial contribution to the healthcare of women in their reproductive years as well as to the health of their children and families. This article therefore describes the professional and educational requirements derived from the legal midwifery competencies within the new midwifery act. Furthermore, it identifies the conditions that need to be established to enable midwives in Germany to practise to their full scope in compliance with statutory responsibilities. Educational science, academic efforts, policymaking and accompanying research should work in synergy. This in turn enables midwives to achieve the maximum scope of their skills, with the objective of promoting physiological pregnancies and births. Consequently, it can strengthen early parenthood in alignment with the national health objectives of \"health around childbirth\". The academisation of the midwifery profession presents a profound opportunity for professional development in Germany. It is essential that midwives receive training based on the principles of educational science and care structures that are yet to be developed. This can enable them to perform within the wide range of their professional tasks to the highest standards, thereby ensuring the optimal care of their clients. Moreover, there is a chance to implement sustainable improvements in healthcare provision for women and their families during the reproductive phase and the period of parenthood in Germany.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310788/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917714","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001683
Angelika Homberg, Elisabeth Narciß, Udo Obertacke, Katrin Schüttpelz-Brauns
Objectives: Surgical undergraduate training takes place in a male-dominated work environment that struggles with recruitment problems. Experiences of cultural and sex/gender-specific barriers of women in surgery have been reported worldwide. Overall, the experiences that students have in coping with the emotional impact of surgery as a profession are thought to be crucial to their subsequent career choices. We investigated whether students' self-reported experiences differed by sex/gender in terms of frequency and content, and whether they were related to their career aspirations.
Methods: In Germany, the final year represents the last part of the undergraduate medical study program. At the Mannheim Medical Faculty, a 12-week surgical training is mandatory. After completing their surgical training, the students were asked about their experiences and their later career aspirations. These experiences were analysed using quantitative content analysis. The relationship between the quality of experience and career aspirations as well as sex/gender differences were statistically measured.
Results: In the 475 questionnaires analysed (response rate 52%), the number of positive and negative mentions does not differ by sex/gender. However, male students feel more actively involved and female students feel poorly briefed and think that supervisors are less interested in their training. A significant influence on career aspirations was found in the performance category for female and male students, and in the supervision category for female students.
Conclusion: The positive experiences that students gain while performing surgical activities have an impact on their subsequent career choices. In particular, a good settling-in period and encouragement to actively participate could help to attract more women to surgery.
{"title":"Surgical experiences of final-year undergraduates and the impact on their career aspiration stratified by sex/gender.","authors":"Angelika Homberg, Elisabeth Narciß, Udo Obertacke, Katrin Schüttpelz-Brauns","doi":"10.3205/zma001683","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001683","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Surgical undergraduate training takes place in a male-dominated work environment that struggles with recruitment problems. Experiences of cultural and sex/gender-specific barriers of women in surgery have been reported worldwide. Overall, the experiences that students have in coping with the emotional impact of surgery as a profession are thought to be crucial to their subsequent career choices. We investigated whether students' self-reported experiences differed by sex/gender in terms of frequency and content, and whether they were related to their career aspirations.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>In Germany, the final year represents the last part of the undergraduate medical study program. At the Mannheim Medical Faculty, a 12-week surgical training is mandatory. After completing their surgical training, the students were asked about their experiences and their later career aspirations. These experiences were analysed using quantitative content analysis. The relationship between the quality of experience and career aspirations as well as sex/gender differences were statistically measured.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>In the 475 questionnaires analysed (response rate 52%), the number of positive and negative mentions does not differ by sex/gender. However, male students feel more actively involved and female students feel poorly briefed and think that supervisors are less interested in their training. A significant influence on career aspirations was found in the <i>performance</i> category for female and male students, and in the <i>supervision</i> category for female students.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The positive experiences that students gain while performing surgical activities have an impact on their subsequent career choices. In particular, a good settling-in period and encouragement to actively participate could help to attract more women to surgery.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310790/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917733","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001681
Giulia Zerbini, Philipp Reicherts, Miriam Reicherts, Nina Roob, Pia Schneider, Andrea Dankert, Sophie-Kathrin Greiner, Martina Kadmon, Veronika Lechner, Marco Roos, Mareike Schimmel, Wolfgang Strube, Selin Temizel, Luise Uhrmacher, Miriam Kunz
Objectives: Teaching communication skills plays a pivotal role in medical curricula. The aim of this article is to describe and evaluate a new communication curriculum developed at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg (KomCuA), which was conceptualized by an interdisciplinary team based on recommended quality standards (i.e., helical, integrated, longitudinal).
Methods: A total of 150 medical students enrolled in the 1st, 3rd, and ≥5th semester participated in the study. They completed an online survey (numerical rating scales and validated questionnaires) evaluating their current communication skills, how these developed across the curriculum in terms of quality and self-confidence, and how helpful they considered practicing in small group tutorials with simulated patients. The students' attitudes towards communication and empathy in the context of medical care were additionally assessed. The students' responses were compared across semesters using one-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA).
Results: Overall, students reported improved communications skills due to attending the KomCuA and further considered practicing with simulated patients as being very helpful (large effect sizes). Compared to 1st semester students, 3rd and ≥5th semester students reported better communication skills (medium to large effect sizes). Additionally, ≥5th semester students showed stronger agreement towards the relevance of empathy in the context of medical care (medium effect size) compared to both 1st and 3rd semester students.
Conclusion: The KomCuA has shown to be an effective communication curriculum to support medical students in the development of their communication skills and positive attitudes towards empathy. Additional studies assessing students' communication skills and empathic attitudes longitudinally are warranted to confirm the present results and to gain further knowledge on how these essential skills and attitudes develop across medical curricula.
{"title":"Communication skills of medical students: Evaluation of a new communication curriculum at the University of Augsburg.","authors":"Giulia Zerbini, Philipp Reicherts, Miriam Reicherts, Nina Roob, Pia Schneider, Andrea Dankert, Sophie-Kathrin Greiner, Martina Kadmon, Veronika Lechner, Marco Roos, Mareike Schimmel, Wolfgang Strube, Selin Temizel, Luise Uhrmacher, Miriam Kunz","doi":"10.3205/zma001681","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001681","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Teaching communication skills plays a pivotal role in medical curricula. The aim of this article is to describe and evaluate a new communication curriculum developed at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Augsburg (KomCuA), which was conceptualized by an interdisciplinary team based on recommended quality standards (i.e., helical, integrated, longitudinal).</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A total of 150 medical students enrolled in the 1<sup>st</sup>, 3<sup>rd</sup>, and ≥5<sup>th</sup> semester participated in the study. They completed an online survey (numerical rating scales and validated questionnaires) evaluating their current communication skills, how these developed across the curriculum in terms of quality and self-confidence, and how helpful they considered practicing in small group tutorials with simulated patients. The students' attitudes towards communication and empathy in the context of medical care were additionally assessed. The students' responses were compared across semesters using one-way univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, students reported improved communications skills due to attending the KomCuA and further considered practicing with simulated patients as being very helpful (large effect sizes). Compared to 1<sup>st</sup> semester students, 3<sup>rd</sup> and ≥5<sup>th</sup> semester students reported better communication skills (medium to large effect sizes). Additionally, ≥5<sup>th</sup> semester students showed stronger agreement towards the relevance of empathy in the context of medical care (medium effect size) compared to both 1<sup>st</sup> and 3<sup>rd</sup> semester students.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The KomCuA has shown to be an effective communication curriculum to support medical students in the development of their communication skills and positive attitudes towards empathy. Additional studies assessing students' communication skills and empathic attitudes longitudinally are warranted to confirm the present results and to gain further knowledge on how these essential skills and attitudes develop across medical curricula.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310792/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917716","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001686
Merle Linnea Juschka, Caroline Johanna Agricola, Felix Alexander Neumann, Sonja Mohr, Birgit-Christiane Zyriax
Objectives: The care of women and their families around childbirth requires effective interprofessional collaboration of the midwifery and medical profession. Given the academisation of midwifery, early interaction between students of midwifery and medicine is both necessary and feasible. As there is a lack of comprehensive data on interprofessional education (IPE) for midwifery and medical students at higher education institutions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH region), the aim was to identify existing IPE activities, and their curricular determination.
Methods: The exploratory study was conducted in the DACH region over three months (Dec. 2022-Feb. 2023). Higher education institutions offering midwifery science and/or medicine were invited to participate in a web-based survey. The questionnaire focused on the structure and curricular implementation of IPE courses, on cooperation, financial support and more.
Results: A total of 58 out of 96 invited institutions (60%) participated in the survey, of which 34 (59%) offered IPE. Eighteen institutions (19%) offered 32 IPE courses for midwifery and medical students through cooperation within faculty (n=8) and between faculties (n=10). Notably, most of these IPE courses (60%) were integrated into the required curriculum of both study programmes. Most IPE courses were offered without financial support (71%).
Conclusion: The current status quo highlighted the existence of numerous IPE offers for midwifery and medical students in the DACH region that warrant further curricular integration of proven and well-established best practice examples to further enhance these initiatives.
{"title":"Status quo of interprofessional education for midwifery and medical students in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.","authors":"Merle Linnea Juschka, Caroline Johanna Agricola, Felix Alexander Neumann, Sonja Mohr, Birgit-Christiane Zyriax","doi":"10.3205/zma001686","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001686","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>The care of women and their families around childbirth requires effective interprofessional collaboration of the midwifery and medical profession. Given the academisation of midwifery, early interaction between students of midwifery and medicine is both necessary and feasible. As there is a lack of comprehensive data on interprofessional education (IPE) for midwifery and medical students at higher education institutions in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH region), the aim was to identify existing IPE activities, and their curricular determination.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>The exploratory study was conducted in the DACH region over three months (Dec. 2022-Feb. 2023). Higher education institutions offering midwifery science and/or medicine were invited to participate in a web-based survey. The questionnaire focused on the structure and curricular implementation of IPE courses, on cooperation, financial support and more.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 58 out of 96 invited institutions (60%) participated in the survey, of which 34 (59%) offered IPE. Eighteen institutions (19%) offered 32 IPE courses for midwifery and medical students through cooperation within faculty (<i>n</i>=8) and between faculties (<i>n</i>=10). Notably, most of these IPE courses (60%) were integrated into the required curriculum of both study programmes. Most IPE courses were offered without financial support (71%).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The current status quo highlighted the existence of numerous IPE offers for midwifery and medical students in the DACH region that warrant further curricular integration of proven and well-established best practice examples to further enhance these initiatives.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310787/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001688
Claudia F Plappert, Nicola H Bauer, Kirsten Dietze-Schwonberg, Melita Grieshop, Annette Kluge-Bischoff, Birgit-Christiane Zyriax, Sabine Striebich
The current situation in Germany is characterised by significant differences between the two types of higher education institutions offering bachelor's degree programmes in midwifery at both universities of applied sciences and universities. These differences are noticeable in admission procedures, resource allocation, content focus and competence assessment at the respective institutions, which in turn result in heterogeneous study experiences. This article highlights the challenges currently facing bachelor degree programmes and the academic qualification of midwives, and identifies future requirements for the development of degree programmes in theory and practice as well as theory-practice transfer, and assessment formats. Furthermore, this article covers the content-related and structural-organisational requirements to develop in-depth academic skills grounded in theory teaching, the facilitation of clinical placements at an academic level, the training of qualified practical instructors and the development of applicable competence-based assessment formats, especially for the state exam. The development of a standardised, high-quality academic education for midwives in Germany requires networking of the different academic sites/locations to exchange experiences in teaching/learning and assessment formats. Furthermore, it can facilitate the development of a standardised competence-oriented model and core curriculum as well as the definition of quality criteria and standards for study programmes of midwifery science. The Midwifery Science Committee (AHW) in the DACH Assoviation for Medical Education (GMA) offers an optimal platform for cooperation between the different universities. The existing challenges for the further professional development of midwives can only be overcome by collaboration and pooled expertise.
{"title":"Academic education of midwives in Germany (part 1): Requirements for bachelor of science programmes in midwifery education. Position paper of the Midwifery Science Committee (AHW) in the DACH Association for Medical Education (GMA).","authors":"Claudia F Plappert, Nicola H Bauer, Kirsten Dietze-Schwonberg, Melita Grieshop, Annette Kluge-Bischoff, Birgit-Christiane Zyriax, Sabine Striebich","doi":"10.3205/zma001688","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001688","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The current situation in Germany is characterised by significant differences between the two types of higher education institutions offering bachelor's degree programmes in midwifery at both universities of applied sciences and universities. These differences are noticeable in admission procedures, resource allocation, content focus and competence assessment at the respective institutions, which in turn result in heterogeneous study experiences. This article highlights the challenges currently facing bachelor degree programmes and the academic qualification of midwives, and identifies future requirements for the development of degree programmes in theory and practice as well as theory-practice transfer, and assessment formats. Furthermore, this article covers the content-related and structural-organisational requirements to develop in-depth academic skills grounded in theory teaching, the facilitation of clinical placements at an academic level, the training of qualified practical instructors and the development of applicable competence-based assessment formats, especially for the state exam. The development of a standardised, high-quality academic education for midwives in Germany requires networking of the different academic sites/locations to exchange experiences in teaching/learning and assessment formats. Furthermore, it can facilitate the development of a standardised competence-oriented model and core curriculum as well as the definition of quality criteria and standards for study programmes of midwifery science. The Midwifery Science Committee (AHW) in the DACH Assoviation for Medical Education (GMA) offers an optimal platform for cooperation between the different universities. The existing challenges for the further professional development of midwives can only be overcome by collaboration and pooled expertise.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310784/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001680
Annemarie Minow, Katharina Gandras, Josefin Wagner, Jürgen Westermann
What is the context informing the project?: Effective communication within a medical team is crucial not only because it results in higher job satisfaction and better joint decision-making among team members, but also because, ultimately, it makes for high-quality, patient-centered care. Since the transition to the clinical phase of study poses a challenge for many medical students, the University of Lübeck introduced "Ich im Team" (me as team member), a German-language communication workshop for third-year medical students, in the 2020/21 winter semester.
Why was the project started?: The workshop forms a basis for future collaboration and is meant to strengthen the interpersonal skills needed for working in teams, communicating with patients, and supporting a no-blame culture.
How is the project carried out?: This workshop, which incorporates elements of improvisational theater and coaching, was offered for the first time in 2020/21. Due to the positive evaluations, it has been a required component of the curriculum since the 2021/22 winter semester.
How is the project evaluated?: The students have accepted the workshop very well, which is reflected in the excellent evaluations of it. Furthermore, a research study carried out during the first two times the workshop was conducted showed, among other things, directly positive effects on the ability to work in interprofessional teams and handle mistakes.
Final overall assessment and outlook: The workshop offers students a solid point of entry into the clinical setting and an awareness of their own role on a given team. Covering the content in more depth and the possible inclusion of other study programs are being discussed.
项目的背景是什么?医疗团队内部的有效沟通至关重要,这不仅因为它能提高工作满意度,改善团队成员之间的共同决策,还因为它最终能提供高质量的、以患者为中心的医疗服务。由于过渡到临床学习阶段对许多医科学生来说是一个挑战,吕贝克大学在 2020/21 年冬季学期为三年级医科学生开设了德语交流讲习班 "Ich im Team"(我是团队成员):该讲习班为今后的合作奠定了基础,旨在加强团队合作、与患者沟通以及支持无责备文化所需的人际交往技能。项目如何评估?学生们对工作坊的接受度非常高,这一点从他们对工作坊的出色评价中可见一斑。此外,在前两次讲习班期间开展的一项研究显示,除其他外,讲习班对跨专业团队工作和处理错误的能力产生了直接的积极影响:讲习班为学生提供了一个进入临床环境的坚实切入点,使他们认识到自己在特定团队中的角色。目前正在讨论更深入地涵盖这些内容以及纳入其他学习计划的可能性。
{"title":"Good ideas for teaching: Design and implementation of the communication workshop \"me as team member\" for third-year medical students.","authors":"Annemarie Minow, Katharina Gandras, Josefin Wagner, Jürgen Westermann","doi":"10.3205/zma001680","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001680","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>What is the context informing the project?: </strong>Effective communication within a medical team is crucial not only because it results in higher job satisfaction and better joint decision-making among team members, but also because, ultimately, it makes for high-quality, patient-centered care. Since the transition to the clinical phase of study poses a challenge for many medical students, the University of Lübeck introduced \"Ich im Team\" <i>(me as team member)</i>, a German-language communication workshop for third-year medical students, in the 2020/21 winter semester.</p><p><strong>Why was the project started?: </strong>The workshop forms a basis for future collaboration and is meant to strengthen the interpersonal skills needed for working in teams, communicating with patients, and supporting a no-blame culture.</p><p><strong>How is the project carried out?: </strong>This workshop, which incorporates elements of improvisational theater and coaching, was offered for the first time in 2020/21. Due to the positive evaluations, it has been a required component of the curriculum since the 2021/22 winter semester.</p><p><strong>How is the project evaluated?: </strong>The students have accepted the workshop very well, which is reflected in the excellent evaluations of it. Furthermore, a research study carried out during the first two times the workshop was conducted showed, among other things, directly positive effects on the ability to work in interprofessional teams and handle mistakes.</p><p><strong>Final overall assessment and outlook: </strong>The workshop offers students a solid point of entry into the clinical setting and an awareness of their own role on a given team. Covering the content in more depth and the possible inclusion of other study programs are being discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310785/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917717","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001685
Mirjana Knorr, Ina Mielke, Dorothee Amelung, Mahla Safari, Oana R Gröne, Simon M Breil, Alexander MacIntosh
Objectives: Situational Judgement Tests (SJT) are a cost-efficient method for the assessment of personal characteristics (e.g., empathy, professionalism, ethical thinking) in medical school admission. Recently, complex open-ended response format SJTs have become more feasible to conduct. However, research on their applicability to a German context is missing. This pilot study tests the acceptability, reliability, subgroup differences, and validity of an online SJT with open-ended response format developed in Canada ("Casper").
Methods: German medical school applicants and students from Hamburg were invited to take Casper in 2020 and 2021. The test consisted of 12 video- and text-based scenarios, each followed by three open-ended questions. Participants subsequently evaluated their test experience in an online survey. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, other admission criteria (Abitur, TMS, HAM-Nat, HAM-SJT) and study success (OSCE) was available in a central research database (stav).
Results: The full sample consisted of 582 participants. Test-takers' global perception of Casper was positive. Internal consistency was satisfactory in both years (α=0.73; 0.82) while interrater agreement was moderate (ICC(1,2)=0.54). Participants who were female (d=0.37) or did not have a migration background (d=0.40) received higher scores. Casper scores correlated with HAM-SJT (r=.18) but not with OSCE communication stations performance. The test was also related to Abitur grades (r=-.15), the TMS (r=.18), and HAM-Nat logical reasoning scores (r=.23).
Conclusion: This study provides positive evidence for the acceptability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of Casper. The selection and training of raters as well as the scenario content require further observation and adjustments to a German context to improve interrater reliability and predictive validity.
{"title":"Measuring personal characteristics in applicants to German medical schools: Piloting an online Situational Judgement Test with an open-ended response format.","authors":"Mirjana Knorr, Ina Mielke, Dorothee Amelung, Mahla Safari, Oana R Gröne, Simon M Breil, Alexander MacIntosh","doi":"10.3205/zma001685","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001685","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Situational Judgement Tests (SJT) are a cost-efficient method for the assessment of personal characteristics (e.g., empathy, professionalism, ethical thinking) in medical school admission. Recently, complex open-ended response format SJTs have become more feasible to conduct. However, research on their applicability to a German context is missing. This pilot study tests the acceptability, reliability, subgroup differences, and validity of an online SJT with open-ended response format developed in Canada (\"Casper\").</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>German medical school applicants and students from Hamburg were invited to take Casper in 2020 and 2021. The test consisted of 12 video- and text-based scenarios, each followed by three open-ended questions. Participants subsequently evaluated their test experience in an online survey. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, other admission criteria (Abitur, TMS, HAM-Nat, HAM-SJT) and study success (OSCE) was available in a central research database (stav).</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The full sample consisted of 582 participants. Test-takers' global perception of Casper was positive. Internal consistency was satisfactory in both years (<i>α</i>=0.73; 0.82) while interrater agreement was moderate (ICC(1,2)=0.54). Participants who were female (<i>d</i>=0.37) or did not have a migration background (<i>d</i>=0.40) received higher scores. Casper scores correlated with HAM-SJT (<i>r</i>=.18) but not with OSCE communication stations performance. The test was also related to Abitur grades (<i>r</i>=-.15), the TMS (<i>r</i>=.18), and HAM-Nat logical reasoning scores (<i>r</i>=.23).</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study provides positive evidence for the acceptability, internal consistency, and convergent validity of Casper. The selection and training of raters as well as the scenario content require further observation and adjustments to a German context to improve interrater reliability and predictive validity.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310783/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917718","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001682
Marie-Christin Dronia, Kim Dillen, Frank Elsner, Manuela Schallenburger, Martin Neukirchen, Anna Hagemeier, Stefanie Hamacher, Axel Doll, Raymond Voltz, Heidrun Golla
Objective: In 2009, Palliative care was incorporated into the medical curriculum as Cross-Sectional Subject 13 (QB13) by means of the revision of the Medical Licensing Regulations for Physicians. The aim of this study was to determine the strengths and deficits of QB13 student education for palliative care in clinical practice in a multi-centre setting and to identify potential for improvement.
Methods: Online questionnaires filled out by medical students during their Practical Year (PY) and resident physicians from the university hospitals in Aachen, Düsseldorf, and Cologne were descriptively analyzed using SPSS; free-text responses were categorized and quantified. Semi-structured interviews with the resident physicians (using a mixed-methods design) were analyzed through content analysis. Emerging categories were quantified.
Results: Analysis of 130 fully completed questionnaires and 23 interviews revealed that participants particularly benefited from patient- and practice-oriented small-group sessions for their clinical work. Despite some university-specific differences, the PY students identified a need for training in end-of-life-care, while resident physicians saw a need for training primarily in dealing with patients and their relatives. They also reported deficits in transferability.
Conclusion: QB13 should be organised in cross-university curricula and provide sufficient resources for practical-oriented small-group teaching. Based on the "unit of care", besides caring for palliative patients, dealing with patients' families should also be an education focus. To improve transferability into clinical practice, students should be actively involved in the care of palliative patients.
{"title":"Palliative care education and knowledge transfer into practice - a multicenter survey among medical students and resident physicians in Germany using a mixed-methods design.","authors":"Marie-Christin Dronia, Kim Dillen, Frank Elsner, Manuela Schallenburger, Martin Neukirchen, Anna Hagemeier, Stefanie Hamacher, Axel Doll, Raymond Voltz, Heidrun Golla","doi":"10.3205/zma001682","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001682","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objective: </strong>In 2009, Palliative care was incorporated into the medical curriculum as Cross-Sectional Subject 13 (QB13) by means of the revision of the Medical Licensing Regulations for Physicians. The aim of this study was to determine the strengths and deficits of QB13 student education for palliative care in clinical practice in a multi-centre setting and to identify potential for improvement.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Online questionnaires filled out by medical students during their Practical Year (PY) and resident physicians from the university hospitals in Aachen, Düsseldorf, and Cologne were descriptively analyzed using SPSS; free-text responses were categorized and quantified. Semi-structured interviews with the resident physicians (using a mixed-methods design) were analyzed through content analysis. Emerging categories were quantified.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Analysis of 130 fully completed questionnaires and 23 interviews revealed that participants particularly benefited from patient- and practice-oriented small-group sessions for their clinical work. Despite some university-specific differences, the PY students identified a need for training in end-of-life-care, while resident physicians saw a need for training primarily in dealing with patients and their relatives. They also reported deficits in transferability.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>QB13 should be organised in cross-university curricula and provide sufficient resources for practical-oriented small-group teaching. Based on the \"unit of care\", besides caring for palliative patients, dealing with patients' families should also be an education focus. To improve transferability into clinical practice, students should be actively involved in the care of palliative patients.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310786/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917720","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001689
Michaela Wagner-Menghin
{"title":"Beliefs for successful feedback communication.","authors":"Michaela Wagner-Menghin","doi":"10.3205/zma001689","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001689","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310782/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917715","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-17eCollection Date: 2024-01-01DOI: 10.3205/zma001684
Kevin Kunz, Hannah Köpper
Background: As part of the MERLIN project (Medical Education Research - Lehrforschung im Netz BW), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, graduate surveys were carried out at the Medical Faculty of Freiburg from 2012-2020. This article will primarily address the question of how the study conditions and competence orientation in Freiburg are assessed and where there is still a need for optimization.
Method: The surveys were conducted among graduates of human medicine at the Freiburg Medical Faculty 1.5 years after graduation. Participation was possible using paper and online questionnaires. The response rates were 36%-43%.
Results: The study conditions were largely rated as good. There is a need for optimization, especially in the area of scientific work. The level of skills acquired was assessed as good to moderate. There were discrepancies between the level of competence achieved during the course of study and the level of competence required to start a career.
Discussion: There is a need for development in terms of preparation for starting a career. Compared to the professionally required level of competence, self-assessment was worse in most competence domains. In Freiburg there are approaches to further promote the acquisition of skills during studies. In order to evaluate these developments and future changes in the context of studies, graduate surveys are relevant.
Conclusion: Graduate surveys are suitable for generating data on the basis of which curriculum design can be carried out or which can be used to prepare for change processes. The surveys in Freiburg will therefore be continued and supplemented with new, needs-based questions.
背景:作为联邦教育与研究部资助的MERLIN项目(Medical Education Research - Lehrforschung im Netz BW)的一部分,弗莱堡医学院在2012-2020年间开展了毕业生调查。本文将主要探讨如何评估弗莱堡的学习条件和能力定位,以及在哪些方面仍需优化:调查对象为弗莱堡医学院人类医学专业毕业一年半后的毕业生。参与方式包括纸质问卷和在线问卷。答复率为 36%-43%:研究条件基本良好。结果:学习条件基本被评为良好,但仍需优化,尤其是在科研工作方面。获得的技能水平被评为良好至中等。在学习期间达到的能力水平与开始职业生涯所需的能力水平之间存在差异:讨论:在为开始职业生涯做准备方面需要发展。与职业要求的能力水平相比,自我评估在大多数能力领域都较差。弗莱堡采取了一些措施,进一步促进学生在学习期间掌握技能。为了评估这些发展和未来在学习方面的变化,毕业生调查具有重要意义:结论:毕业生调查适用于提供数据,在此基础上进行课程设计或为改革进程做准备。因此,将继续在弗莱堡开展调查,并根据需要提出新的问题。
{"title":"Medical studies at the University of Freiburg in retrospect - study conditions, study quality and skills acquisition from the perspective of graduates.","authors":"Kevin Kunz, Hannah Köpper","doi":"10.3205/zma001684","DOIUrl":"10.3205/zma001684","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>As part of the MER<i>LIN</i> project (Medical Education Research - Lehrforschung im Netz BW), funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, graduate surveys were carried out at the Medical Faculty of Freiburg from 2012-2020. This article will primarily address the question of how the study conditions and competence orientation in Freiburg are assessed and where there is still a need for optimization.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>The surveys were conducted among graduates of human medicine at the Freiburg Medical Faculty 1.5 years after graduation. Participation was possible using paper and online questionnaires. The response rates were 36%-43%.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The study conditions were largely rated as good. There is a need for optimization, especially in the area of scientific work. The level of skills acquired was assessed as good to moderate. There were discrepancies between the level of competence achieved during the course of study and the level of competence required to start a career.</p><p><strong>Discussion: </strong>There is a need for development in terms of preparation for starting a career. Compared to the professionally required level of competence, self-assessment was worse in most competence domains. In Freiburg there are approaches to further promote the acquisition of skills during studies. In order to evaluate these developments and future changes in the context of studies, graduate surveys are relevant.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Graduate surveys are suitable for generating data on the basis of which curriculum design can be carried out or which can be used to prepare for change processes. The surveys in Freiburg will therefore be continued and supplemented with new, needs-based questions.</p>","PeriodicalId":45850,"journal":{"name":"GMS Journal for Medical Education","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11310789/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141917719","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}