Wie wichtig ist der Unterricht in Medizinethik und Medizingeschichte im Medizinstudium? Eine empirische Studie zu den Einschätzungen Studierender

Objectives: It was investigated how students judge the teaching of medical ethics and the history of medicine at the start and during their Stefan Schulz Barbara Woestmann studies, and the influence which subject-specific teaching of the history, Bert Huenges theory and ethics of medicine (GTE) or the lack thereof has on the judgement of these subjects. Christoph Schweikardt Methods: From a total of 533 students who were in their first and 5 semester of the BochumModel curriculum (GTE teaching from the first Thorsten Schafer semester onwards) or followed the traditional curriculum (GTE teaching in the 5/ 6 semester), questionnaires were requested in the winter 1 Ruhr-University Bochum, Institute of Medical Ethics semester 2005/06 and in the summer semester 2006. They were and the History of Medicine, Bochum, Germany asked both before and after the 1 and 5 (model curriculum) or 6 semester (traditional curriculum). We asked students to judge the importance of teaching medical ethics and the history of medicine, the 2 Ruhr-University Bochum, Department of General Medicine, Bochum, Germany significance of these subjects for physicians and about teachability and testability (Likert scale from -2 (do not agree at all) to +2 (agree completely)). 3 RWTH Aachen University, University Hospital Aachen, Results: 331 questionnaire pairs were included in the study. There were no significant differences between the students of the two curricula at the start of the 1 semester. Institute of History, Theory and Ethics in Medicine, Aachen, Germany The views on medical ethics and the history of medicine, in contrast, were significantly different at the start of undergraduate studies: The 4 Ruhr-University Bochum, Faculty of Medicine, Centre importance of medical ethics for the individual and the physician was considered very high but their teachability and testability were rated for Medical Education, Dean of Studies, Bochum, Germany considerably worse. For the history of medicine, the results were exactly opposite. GTE teaching led to a more positive assessment of items previously ranked less favourably in both curricula. A lack of teaching led to a drop in the assessment of both subjects which had previously been rated well. Conclusion: Consistent with the literature, our results support the hypothesis that the teaching of GTE has a positive impact on the views towards the history and ethics of medicine, with a lack of teaching having a negative impact. Therefore the teaching of GTE should already begin in the 1 semester. The teaching of GTE must take into account that even right at the start of their studies, students judge medical ethics and the history of medicine differently.