The Hamburg integrated medical degree program iMED

Rheingans, Anke; Soulos, Athanasios; Mohr, Sonja; Meyer, Jelka; Guse, Andreas H.

doi:10.3205/zma001260

Cited by 12 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…All first year dental students (n=68) enrolled in the integrated dental degree programme iMED DENT launched in 2019 and medical students (n=352) enrolled in the integrated medical degree programme iMED established in 2012 at the Medical School of the University of Hamburg, Germany31 were invited to participate in the online surveys. Students were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire linked to the voluntary curriculum evaluation conducted by the dean’s office in regular intervals during the course of the year.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental burden and perception of the study situation among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study and comparison of dental and medical students

et al. 2021

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ObjectivesTo investigate levels of distress, depression, anxiety, stress and perception of their current study situation during the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate dental and medical students.DesignObservational, cross-sectional study including two consecutive surveys (May and July 2020).SettingA large medical school in Germany.ParticipantsAll first year dental and medical students were invited. 132 participating first year students (44 dental, 88 medical) from the first survey and 150 students (50 dental, 100 medical) from the second were included in our analyses.Primary and secondary outcome measuresMental burden (distress thermometer, Patient Health Questionnaire-4, Perceived Stress Scale-4) and self-reported changes in mental health and perception of study situation during the COVID-19 pandemic (self-developed items) were compared. Open-ended questions were analysed by conventional content analyses.ResultsA considerable proportion of students (t1: May 2020: 84.1%; t2: July 2020: 77.3%) reported distress levels above cut-off. In July 2020, dental students reported significantly higher distress scores than medical students (dental: M=7.0, SD=2.3; medical: M=5.7; SD=2.1; p<0.001). More dental than medical students reported mild, moderate and severe levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. The majority stated that their mental health and study motivation had not changed during the pandemic. Logistic regression showed that being a dental student was significantly associated with a higher likelihood for serious worries regarding the study situation during COVID-19 at t1 (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.1 to 14.2). At t2 higher distress was significantly associated with a higher likelihood for experiencing serious worries (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.3 to 2.5). Regarding current concerns related to the pandemic, students most frequently reported difficulties with self-regulated learning (15.2%), study-related worries and uncertainty (14.4%), missing feedback of students and lecturers (11.4%) and lack of practical training (9.8%).ConclusionThe results suggest that high mental burden and the lack of practical training among medical and dental students is an increasing problem, with a possibly even higher urgency in dental students. Tailored psychological and educational support offers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic might help them as they progress through (medical and) dental school.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mental burden and perception of the study situation among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study and comparison of dental and medical students

et al. 2021

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“…However, it is a fascinating example that shows that communication content can be integrated into a curriculum within a relatively short period of time. The model program had different framework conditions than traditional courses of study in the sense that the model character allows for more scope for design and innovation [ 25 , 42 ]. Further limitations include that the analysis does not capture the level of taught competency [ 41 ] and that no distinction was made between the explicit and implicit teaching of the learning objectives [ 43 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Information on faculty’s different baseline conditions was collected during a previous project [ 21 – 24 ]. The present research project focuses on the communication curriculum of the integrated model study program of the Medical Faculty of the University of Hamburg [ 25 ]. The program was introduced in 2012 and offers an innovative approach to the training of future doctors.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Implementing and optimizing a communication curriculum in medical teaching: Stakeholders’ perspectives

Brünahl

Hinding²,

Eilers³

et al. 2022

PLoS ONE

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Objective The relevance of communication in medical education is continuously increasing. At the Medical Faculty of Hamburg, the communication curriculum was further developed and optimized during this project. This article aims to describe the stakeholders’ perceived challenges and supporting factors in the implementation and optimization processes. Methods The initial communication curriculum and its development after a one-year optimization process were assessed with a curricular mapping. A SWOT analysis and group discussions were carried out to provide information on the need for optimization and on challenges the different stakeholders faced. Results The curricular mapping showed that the communication curriculum is comprehensive, coherent, integrated and longitudinal. In both the implementation and the project-related optimization processes, support from the dean, cooperation among all stakeholders and structural prerequisites were deemed the most critical factors for successfully integrating communication content into the curriculum. Conclusion The initiative and support of all stakeholders, including the dean, teachers and students, were crucial for the project’s success. Practice implications Although the implementation of a communication curriculum is recommended for all medical faculties, their actual implementation processes may differ. In a “top-down” and “bottom-up” approach, all stakeholders should be continuously involved in the process to ensure successful integration.

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“…The curriculum structure of iMED allows the intermediate examination after the third semester. Thus, the amount of practical training increases sharply from the 4th semester, which corresponds to the second half of year 2 ( Rheingans et al, 2019 ). The construction of the curriculum with more practical training after the 3rd semester could account for the high decrease of study motivation among 2nd year students in this study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…All medical students ( n = 1,545) enrolled in the integrated medical degree program (iMED) at the Medical Faculty of the University of Hamburg ( Rheingans et al, 2019 ) in the summer semester 2020 were invited to participate in the online survey. Students were asked to complete an anonymous questionnaire linked to the voluntary curriculum evaluation conducted by the Dean’s Office at regular intervals throughout the year.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding Mental Burden and Factors Associated With Study Worries Among Undergraduate Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

et al. 2021

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The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting many areas of life and has led to major changes in undergraduate medical education. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, high mental burden of medical students has frequently been reported in the literature. Additional pandemic-specific stressors could exacerbate this situation. This study aimed to assess mental health outcomes among medical students during the first semester after the COVID-19 outbreak and perception of the students on how the learning environment has changed. In May 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional survey among undergraduate medical students at a large medical school in Germany. The survey included validated mental health instruments (Distress Thermometer, Patient Health Questionnaire 4) and self-developed items to examine the perception of the study situation during the COVID-19 pandemic. Open-ended questions were analyzed by conventional content analyses. The response rate was 59.2% (914/1,545). Overall, 61.9% of the students reported distress levels above the cutoff. Year 1 students reported significantly higher levels of distress, anxiety and depression than students during their second to fourth year of studies. 48.3% of the students indicated a decrease in their study motivation since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic with significant differences between study years. The binary logistic regression model showed that male gender, being in study year 2, higher distress scores and higher symptoms of depression were significantly associated with a higher likelihood for experiencing serious worries. In the open-ended questions on current concerns related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their studies, students most frequently reported concerns about missing relevant practical learning experience, difficulties with self-regulated learning and self motivation as well as study-related worries. Year 4 students reported significantly more worries about the lack of practical training than students from study years 1 to 3. Analysis of gender differences showed that female students reported more frequently diverse worries. In contrast, female students shared more frequently helpful strategies in all the categories compared to male students. Our findings suggest that medical students experience significant levels of distress and mental burden during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the need for ongoing psychological and educational support for medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic and after.

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The Hamburg integrated medical degree program iMED

Cited by 12 publications

References 8 publications

Mental burden and perception of the study situation among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study and comparison of dental and medical students

Mental burden and perception of the study situation among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study and comparison of dental and medical students

Implementing and optimizing a communication curriculum in medical teaching: Stakeholders’ perspectives

Understanding Mental Burden and Factors Associated With Study Worries Among Undergraduate Medical Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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