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Individual and institutional influencing factors on completion rates in a medical education master’s program in Germany.

ABSTRACT: Background: The increasing significance of didactic aspects in medical education has also led to the development of special postgraduate programs. Completion rates represent an important outcome criterion for these programs of study. Up to today, detailed studies on what factors influence these completion rates have been lacking.Methods: Within the framework of outcomes research, a semi-structured online survey of students was conducted in the Master of Medical Education Germany program. Of the 90 items, 21 referred to the master's thesis that is required for graduation. Results: 157 out of 246 (63.8%) of students from classes 1-10 of the program (study period 2004-2014) participated in the survey. 109 participants had submitted a master's thesis, whereas 45 participants had not completed their studies by submitting a master's thesis. Influencing factors of successful completion were, among other things, little difficulty in choosing the topic, retention of the originally chosen topic, general support by the program administration in the modules and ensuring timely feedback from the advisor, and the provision of temporal, staff and financial resources by the home faculty. The failure to turn in the project report and a lengthy interruption of master thesi's work could be identified as critical parameters.Conclusion: Taking into account these results can contribute to increasing completion rates in medical education graduate programs. Systematic outcomes research leads, moreover, to quality assurance. Such studies should be conducted in a standardized manner in the future, in order to facilitate comparisons between medical education programs.

SUBMITTER: Heide S

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6905360 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BACKGROUND: Little is known about the factors that influence applicants' decisions to select a graduate medical education training program. Programs may improve their recruitment by better understanding that process. METHODS: Following the Match for the years 2008 though 2010, an electronic survey was sent to 664 applicants to 15 Duke University graduate medical education programs. Those individuals were ranked high enough to match to Duke University but chose to match at another institution. We used quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore factors influencing candidates' decisions and to identify program and institutional improvements to better attract top candidates. RESULTS: Response rate was 63% (417/664). The quantitative analysis identified factors that were "very important" to applicants (current resident satisfaction, relationship between faculty and residents, collegiality of current residents, quantity and quality of faculty content/mentoring, faculty teaching expertise, diversity of patients and types of procedures, and location), and those that were "not important" to applicants (child care or education opportunities for children, salary, United States Medical Licensing Examination requirements, part-time training options, favorable environment for minorities or women). There were statistically significant differences among specialties. Qualitative analysis identified 3 themes as most influential in their choice: location, program relationships, and the interview experience. CONCLUSION: The collection of 3 years of data across specialties identified factors that are important to applicants' choice of a training program. Some factors can be addressed quickly and with little effort, such as the format of the interview day. Others require programs and institutions to revisit their mission, priorities, and training culture to improve relationships between residents and faculty. Programs may wish to be more tactical in selecting the residents and faculty who meet with applicants and be more focused in planning how the interview time is used.

Project description:BackgroundMore than 8.5 million Germans suffer from chronic diseases attributable to smoking. Education Against Tobacco (EAT) is a multinational network of medical students who volunteer for school-based prevention in the classroom setting, amongst other activities. EAT has been implemented in 28 medical schools in Germany and is present in 13 additional countries around the globe. A recent quasi-experimental study showed significant short-term smoking cessation effects on 11-to-15-year-old adolescents.ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to provide the first randomized long-term evaluation of the optimized 2014 EAT curriculum involving a photoaging software for its effectiveness in reducing the smoking prevalence among 11-to-15-year-old pupils in German secondary schools.MethodsA randomized controlled trial was undertaken with 1504 adolescents from 9 German secondary schools, aged 11-15 years in grades 6-8, of which 718 (47.74%) were identifiable for the prospective sample at the 12-month follow-up. The experimental study design included measurements at baseline (t1), 6 months (t2), and 12 months postintervention (t3), via questionnaire. The study groups consisted of 40 randomized classes that received the standardized EAT intervention (two medical student-led interactive modules taking 120 minutes total) and 34 control classes within the same schools (no intervention). The primary endpoint was the difference in smoking prevalence from t1 to t3 in the control group versus the difference from t1 to t3 in the intervention group. The differences in smoking behavior (smoking onset, quitting) between the two groups, as well as gender-specific effects, were studied as secondary outcomes.ResultsNone of the effects were significant due to a high loss-to-follow-up effect (52.26%, 786/1504). From baseline to the two follow-up time points, the prevalence of smoking increased from 3.1% to 5.2% to 7.2% in the control group and from 3.0% to 5.4% to 5.8% in the intervention group (number needed to treat [NNT]=68). Notable differences were observed between the groups for the female gender (4.2% to 9.5% for control vs 4.0% to 5.2% for intervention; NNT=24 for females vs NNT=207 for males), low educational background (7.3% to 12% for control vs 6.1% to 8.7% for intervention; NNT=30), and migrational background (students who claimed that at least one parent was not born in Germany) at the 12-month follow-up. The intervention appears to prevent smoking onset (NNT=63) but does not appear to initiate quitting.ConclusionsThe intervention appears to prevent smoking, especially in females and students with a low educational background.

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Individual and institutional influencing factors on completion rates in a medical education master’s program in Germany.

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