Journal: BMC Medical Education

Abbreviation

BMC Med Educ

Publisher

BioMed Central

Journal Volumes

ISSN

1472-6920

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2022 - 20254
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Publications 1 - 4 of 4
  • Teaching evidence-based medicine in medical education: data on barriers and requirements in non-university and university hospitals
    Item type: Journal Article
    Luchsinger , Larissa; Berthold, Anne; Brodmann Mäder, Monika; et al. (2025)
    BMC Medical Education
    Background Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is an essential component of medical practice, combining the best available scientific evidence with clinical expertise to support high-quality patient care. There is limited information on how EBM is integrated into postgraduate medical education programs. This study investigates differences in EBM training between university and non-university hospitals and across specialties in Switzerland and Austria. Methods Data were collected through annual nationwide surveys evaluating the quality in postgraduate medical education in Switzerland and Austria. A total of 13,659 residents (Switzerland: 9,683; Austria: 3,976) responded to a paper-based questionnaire, resulting in response rates of 71% for Switzerland and 44% for Austria. The questionnaire contains a five-item EBM-scale measuring different aspects of EBM training on a 6-point Likert scale. Residents also answered questions related to scientific publishing. Comparisons were made between university hospitals and other institutions within and between both countries, as well as across specialties within hospital types and countries. Descriptive statistics were reported, and differences were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U and Chi-square test. Results In both countries, residents at university hospitals gave overall significantly higher ratings on the EBM-scale than those at non-university hospitals, with more pronounced differences observed in Austria. Moreover, residents in university hospitals reported higher engagement in scientific activities. Specialty comparisons revealed that internal medicine received the highest EBM ratings among university hospitals. In both countries, there were no significant differences between the two specialities anaesthesia and pediatrics across university and non-university hospitals. Conclusions Data from residents of two countries indicate potential to improve EBM training in postgraduate medical education in non-university hospitals, and reveal differences across specialities, suggesting the need for further research to identify the factors underlying these differences across hospital types and clinical contexts.
  • Attractiveness of medical disciplines amongst Swiss first-year medical students allocated to different medical education tracks: cross-sectional study
    Item type: Journal Article
    Markun, Stefan; Tandjung, Ryan; Rosemann, Thomas; et al. (2022)
    BMC Medical Education
    Background As most countries, Switzerland is experiencing a shortage of physicians especially in general practice and new medical education tracks with respective focusses have been started in response. This study investigated Swiss medical students’ career openness and attractiveness of different medical disciplines as well as the concordance of students’ career intentions with assigned medical education tracks. Methods Cross-sectional study surveying first year medical students assigned to four different Swiss medical education tracks with distinctive additional education focuses (ETH Zurich: medical technology and engineering, University of St. Gallen and University of Lucerne: primary healthcare and University of Zurich: no distinctive focus). Results We surveyed 354 medical students (response rate across all included medical education tracks 71.1%), 64.8% female, mean age 20 years. Regarding career openness, we found that 52.8% of medical students had neither a strong commitment nor a strong reservation for any of the proposed career options and 17.0% had a strong commitment. Among medical disciplines, medical subspecialties were attractive to the largest part of students (inpatient subspecialties attractive for 71%, outpatient for 58%), attractiveness of general practice was moderate (30%), academic (22%) and industrial sector (17%) careers were least attractive. Proportions of medical students attracted to general practice were similar at medical education tracks with focus on primary healthcare compared to other medical education tracks (32.2% vs. 25.8%, p = 0.391). Conversely, proportions of medical students attracted to academic or industry careers were significantly higher at the ETH Zurich compared to other medical education tracks (37.2%, vs. 13.1%, p < 0.001 and 31.9%, vs. 8.8%, p < 0.001 respectively). Conclusion While most first-year medical students were open to careers in many medical disciplines, attractiveness of disciplines varied strongly. Students attracted to academic or industrial careers accumulated at the medical education track with concordant teaching focus but students attracted to general practice did not accumulate at medical education tracks focused on primary healthcare. For medical education tracks with primary care teaching focus this is both a challenge and an opportunity to specifically counteract the shortage of general practitioners in Switzerland.
  • Using standardized patients for undergraduate clinical skills training in an introductory course to psychiatry
    Item type: Journal Article
    Siemerkus, Jakob; Petrescu, Ana-Stela; Köchli, Laura; et al. (2023)
    BMC Medical Education
    Background The goal of this study was to assess the value and acceptance of Standardized or Simulated Patients (SPs) for training clinically inexperienced undergraduate medical students in psychiatric history taking, psychopathological assessment, and communication with psychiatric patients. Methods As part of a newly developed introductory course to psychiatry, pairs of 3rd year medical students conducted psychiatric assessments of SPs, including history and psychopathological state, under the supervision of a clinical lecturer. Prior to the assessment, students attended introductory lectures to communication in psychiatry and psychopathology but were clinically inexperienced. After the interview, the students’ summary of their findings was discussed with other students and the lecturer. Students, lecturers, and actors were invited to a survey after the course. Questions for the students included self-reports about perceived learning success and authenticity of the interviews. Results 41 students, 6 actors and 8 lecturers completed the survey (response rates of 48%, 50%, and 100%, respectively). The survey results indicated that, despite their lack of clinical experience, students learned how to conduct a psychiatric interview, communicate in a non-judgmental and empathetic manner, take a psychiatric history and perform a psychopathological examination. SPs were perceived as authentic. The survey results suggested that this setting allowed for an enjoyable, non-distressful and motivating learning experience within a restricted time frame of just two afternoons. Conclusion The results indicated that the SP approach presented is useful for teaching clinical skills in psychiatry to students with limited previous clinical experience and knowledge of psychiatry. We argue that SPs can be used to teach practical psychiatric skills already during an early phase of the curriculum. Limitations of our study include a limited sample size, a temporal gap between the course and the survey, reliance on self-reports, and lack of comparison to alternative interventions.
  • How to use curriculum mapping to ensure a coherent and coordinated learning spiral in a competency-based medical curriculum across two medical universities
    Item type: Journal Article
    Waldvogel, Tuija; Link, Monika; Pedrazzini, Giovanni; et al. (2025)
    BMC Medical Education
    Background Evaluation of competency-based medical curricula is still a challenge. Curriculum mapping comprises all learning objectives for the learning events which are (usually) mapped to a national framework. This study evaluates coherence within the learning spiral across two consecutive competency-based curricula by usage of curricular maps. Methods Curriculum mapping data of two undergraduate medical curricula (Bachelor and consecutive Master) from two different Swiss universities was used to evaluate a given topic (in our case cardiology) related to continuity and increasing complexity. In addition, coverage of the Swiss national framework (’PROFILES’) was assessed. Results A continuous exposure to cardiovascular content across the two programs as well as an increasing complexity was found. The analysis further showed that most parts of the national Swiss framework (‘PROFILES’) are covered to some extent and revealed missing coverage of some parts of the first chapter (‘General Objectives’) and second chapter (‘Entrustable Professional activities’). Conclusion The results support the implicit notion that the medical curriculum across two universities can be coherent and provide the necessary structure to enable a coordinated learning spiral. The approach can be used for any curriculum which has been mapped to a framework to evaluate the coherence and coordination of a learning spiral in each field. This approach can be very valuable especially for medical programs where students change from one institution to another.
Publications 1 - 4 of 4