Thinking outside the box: students positive about visionary elective curricula in medical school

Abstract

Objective: Space for personality development as well as for the development of critical, creative and interdisciplinary thinking is rarely found in medical curricula in Germany. To be prepared for the challenges of modern medicine, future physicians need a visionary mindset. The aim of this study is to determine the need for teaching such content among medical students in the context of visionary elective curricula and to examine these with regard to the desired topics and organizational structure. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study with 236 medical students from all semesters of the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich. The survey consists of 50 questions and includes single choice, multiple choice, matrix questions, open-ended questions and Likert scales. Responses were examined using descriptive statistics and compared parametrically in sub-aspects. Results: Three-quarters of respondents would like to see curricular content on interdisciplinary interfaces with other disciplines. A suitable framework for this is seen by 87% of the respondents in a visionary elective curriculum. Students would like to see a broad range of specific content such as global health, politics, business, and computer science. The majority of respondents would like to see 1 unit of instruction per week and would participate in an appropriate program. Such an offering would promote creative (53.6%), critical (63.7%), and interdisciplinary thinking (69.0%) and train to become better physicians (87%). Conclusion: Participants in this study are positive toward the introduction of visionary content in medical school. Faculties should build visionary elective curricula according to the graduate profile requirements of the new NKLM 2.0 to make medical education sustainable.

A post-Flexner comparative case study of medical training responses to health system needs in Brazil and Germany

“…Medical students should be involved in implementing and executing this role in the curriculum. 49 Key questions in curricular QM should be: What has the curriculum contributed to a medical student’s future role in the community? How was the student prepared for global challenges and needs?…”

What do we mean by “lessons learned”? Medical didactic research deficits before the post-COVID era. A call!

“…López Dávila et al [ 13 ] describe nationwide quality care in the recognition of medical degrees earned abroad in Costa Rica, and Pentzek et al [ 14 ] examine quality development of general medical clerkships through collegial feedback. Nikendei et al describe [ 15 ] compensatory effects of voluntary assignments to support COVID-19 patients by students on, for example, “professional identification” while bedside teaching was absent, and Rohr et al describe positive attitudes toward optional teaching components, in this case visionary elective curricula, in their article [ 16 ].…”