Support for global health and pandemic preparedness in medical education in Germany: Students as change agents.
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SUBMITTER: Kreitlow A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8207038 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Project description:BackgroundGlobal health education (GHE) in Italy has spread since the first decade of 21st century. The presence of global health (GH) courses in Italy was monitored from 2007 to 2013. In 2019, a new survey was proposed to assess the availability of educational opportunities in Italian medical schools.MethodsAn online survey was carried out using a questionnaire administered to a network of interested individuals with different roles in the academic world: students, professors, and members of the Italian Network for Global Health Education. The features of courses were analysed through a score.ResultsA total of 61 responses were received from affiliates of 33 out of the 44 medical schools in Italy. The national mean of GH courses for each faculty was 1.2, reflecting an increase from 2007. The courses increased nationwide, resulting in a dispersed GHE presence in northern, central and southern Italy. One of the most critical points was related to the nature of "elective" courses, which were not mandatory in the curricula. Enrollees tended to be students genuinely interested in GH issues. Some community and service-learning experiences, referred to as GH gyms, were also detected at national and international levels.ConclusionsGHE has spreading in Italy in line with the vision of the Italian Network for Global Health Education. Although progress has been made to disperse GH courses around the country, more academic commitment is needed to include GH in the mandatory curricula of medical schools and other health faculties.
| S-EPMC8222702 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundUniversities undertake the majority of publicly funded research in Germany and hence bear a responsibility to contribute to global health efforts. So far, involvement and impact of German medical faculties in global health are unknown. Our aim was to systematically asses and evaluate German medical faculties' contribution to global health related research and education, as well as their policies and practices concerning open access publishing and equitable licensing.MethodsWe assessed the involvement in global health of all 36 publicly funded medical faculties in Germany during 2010-2014 in three areas: innovation, access and education, using the following indicators: research funding and publications focused on global health or poverty-related and neglected diseases; open access publishing and policies promoting access to medical innovations worldwide; provision of global health education. Data were gathered from public databases, university websites and questionnaires sent to individual universities for validation and triangulation.ResultsThere was a high level of variability between institutions and indicators. The proportion of research funding for poverty-related and neglected diseases research ranged between 0.0-1.1%. The top five institutions received nearly 85% of the total poverty-related and neglected diseases research funding. 20 of 36 universities had an institutional open access publishing policy, 19 had an open access publishing fund, 16 had neither. Only one university reported having used an equitable licensing policy. 22 of 36 faculties provided some global health education, but only one of them included global health in their core undergraduate medical curriculum as a compulsory course with more than just single lectures.ConclusionObtained data indicate that global health and poverty-related and neglected diseases research at German medical faculties is highly concentrated in a few institutions, open-access publishing and equitable licensing policies are mostly absent, and only little global health education exists. Universities and government should address global health strategically in both research and education at medical faculties to reflect the country's economic and political weight and human resource potential.
| S-EPMC7170220 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The purpose of this article is to give international readers an overview of the organisation, structure and curriculum, together with important advances and problems, of undergraduate medical education in Germany. Interest in medical education in Germany has been relatively low but has gained momentum with the new "Regulation of the Licensing of Doctors" which came into effect in 2003. Medical education had required substantial reform, particularly with respect to improving the links between theoretical and clinical teaching and the extension of interdisciplinary and topic-related instruction. It takes six years and three months to complete the curriculum and training is divided into three sections: basic science (2 years), clinical science (3 years) and final clinical year. While the reorganisation of graduate medical education required by the new "Regulation of the Licensing of Doctors" has stimulated multiple excellent teaching projects, there is evidence that some of the stipulated changes have not been implemented. Indeed, whether the medical schools have complied with this regulation and its overall success remains to be assessed systematically. Mandatory external accreditation and periodic reaccreditation of medical faculties need to be established in Germany.
| S-EPMC2716556 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionIntegrating training on health equity of sexual and gender minorities (SGM) in medical education has been challenging globally despite emphasis on the need for medical students to develop competence to provide adequate care for diverse patient groups. This study elicits Taiwanese medical students' perceptions of their values and preparedness to care for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Transgender (LGBT) patients using a qualitative approach that considers broader societal changes, and more focused topics such as the provision of relevant training in medical education.MethodsEighty-nine medical students/trainees from two southern Taiwanese medical schools (one public and one private) participated in focus groups (n = 70) and individual interviews (n = 19). Qualitative analysis was conducted using inductive thematic analysis.ResultsParticipants (i) expressed wide social acceptance and openness toward LGBT individuals, but were unsure of ways to communicate with LGBT patients; (ii) confirmed that stigmatization and biases might be developed during their training; (iii) recognized gender stereotypes could have negative impacts on clinical reasoning; (iv) considered themselves prepared to care for LGBT patients, yet equated non-discriminatory attitudes to preparedness; (v) acknowledged a lack of relevant professional skills; (vi) implicated curriculum did not address LGBT issues systematically and explicitly.ConclusionThis study has identified the insufficiencies of current medical training and inadequate preparedness of medical students/trainees to provide better care for LGBT patients. It provides insights for medical educators to design and implement effective medical curriculum and training, and faculty development programs to equip medical students/trainees with self-awareness and competencies to more readily provide holistic care for SGM, in keeping up with social progress, and promote health equity for a more diverse patient population.
| S-EPMC9262208 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The healthcare needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans*, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons are often overlooked, prompting national and international calls to include diversity-related competencies into medical students' training. However, LGBTQI+-focused healthcare education targets remain elusive, as surveys reveal considerable variability across national student populations. To generate empirical data and vocalize recommendations for medical education, we conducted the first nationwide online survey among 670 German medical students from 33 universities. Overall, most respondents reported low confidence regarding their medical training preparing them for LGBTQI+ patients, stated that LGBTQI+ themes were not covered during training, and agreed that the inclusion of such themes is urgently needed. In addition, we found gender and LGBTQI+ community member status to be key variables. Men scored lower in knowledge than women, while community members scored higher than non-community members. Similarly, community members reported higher comfort levels. Non-community men showed the highest levels of prejudice and efficacy beliefs, while at the same time had the lowest scores in contacts and the perceived importance of LGBTQI+-related teaching. Keeping subgroup differences in mind, we recommend that educational training should include LGBTQI+ healthcare aspects and address self-efficacy beliefs in future medical professionals to overcome LGBTQI+ healthcare disparities.
| S-EPMC9408586 | biostudies-literature
Project description:By September 2021 an estimated 32% of the global population was fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but the global distribution of vaccines was extremely unequal, with 72% or more vaccinated in the ten countries with the highest vaccination rates and less than 2% in the ten countries with the lowest vaccination rates. Given that governments need to secure public support for investments in global vaccine sharing, it is important to understand the levels and drivers of public support for international vaccine solidarity. Using a factorial experiment administered to more than 10,000 online survey respondents in Germany in 2021, we demonstrate that the majority of German citizens are against global inequalities in vaccine distribution. Respondents are supportive of substantive funding amounts, on the order of the most generous contributions provided to date, though still below amounts that are likely needed for a successful global campaign. Public preferences appear largely to be driven by intrinsic concern for the welfare of global populations though are in part explained by material considerations-particularly risks of continued health threats from a failure to vaccinate globally. Strategic considerations are of more limited importance in shaping public opinion; in particular we see no evidence for free riding on contributions by other states. Finally, drawing on an additional survey experiment, we show that there is scope to use information campaigns highlighting international health externalities to augment public support for global campaigns.
| S-EPMC9750013 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Physicians play an important role in adapting to and mitigating the adverse health effects of the unfolding climate and ecological crises. To fully harness this potential, future physicians need to acquire knowledge, values, skills, and leadership attributes to care for patients presenting with environmental change-related conditions and to initiate and propel transformative change in healthcare and other sectors of society including, but not limited to, the decarbonization of healthcare systems, the transition to renewable energies and the transformation of transport and food systems. Despite the potential of Planetary Health Education (PHE) to support medical students in becoming agents of change, best-practice examples of mainstreaming PHE in medical curricula remain scarce both in Germany and internationally. The process of revising and updating the Medical Licensing Regulations and the National Competency-based Catalog of Learning Objectives for Medical Education in Germany provided a window of opportunity to address this implementation challenge. In this article, we describe the development and content of national Planetary Health learning objectives for Germany. We anticipate that the learning objectives will stimulate the development and implementation of innovative Planetary Health teaching, learning and exam formats in medical schools and inform similar initiatives in other health professions. The availability of Planetary Health learning objectives in other countries will provide opportunities for cross-country and interdisciplinary exchange of experiences and validation of content, thus supporting the consolidation of Planetary Health learning objectives and the improvement of PHE for all health professionals globally.
| S-EPMC10015604 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundDue to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2021 Harvard Medical School course Clinical Topics in Global Health was offered for the first time as a remote class. We sought to understand student and faculty perceptions of the elective and evaluate the perceived effectiveness of teaching global health using an online education platform.MethodsFollowing the course, students and faculty were invited to complete a combined total of three online surveys, which consisted of closed- and open-response questions assessing the strengths and challenges of online learning. Data analyses included traditional descriptive statistics, Net Promoter Score calculation, and inductive thematic analysis of qualitative data.ResultsThirty-two students and eighteen guest faculty (including four international faculty) participated in the course. Highly-rated course components included guest lecturers, practical skill sessions, polls, and case studies. The Net Promoter Score for the course was excellent at 92, and students reported a greater likelihood of pursuing a career in global health because of the course. While students and faculty highlighted limitations of the remote learning platform (lack of community and interactivity), they also commented on increased accessibility and faculty diversity. Most faculty and students recommended a hybrid model for future versions of the course and suggested strategies to address current limitations.ConclusionsA remote learning platform can effectively deliver global health education, both in the pandemic setting and beyond.
| S-EPMC9087168 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Due to the increased prevalence of chronic diseases, behavior changes are integral to self-management. Healthcare and other professionals are expected to support these behavior changes, and therefore, undergraduate students should receive up-to-date and evidence-based training in this respect. Our work aims to review the outcomes of digital tools in behavior change support education. A secondary aim was to examine existing instruments to assess the effectiveness of these tools. A PIO (population/problem, intervention, outcome) research question led our literature search. The population was limited to students in nursing, sports sciences, and pharmacy; the interventions were limited to digital teaching tools; and the outcomes consisted of knowledge, motivation, and competencies. A systematic literature review was performed in the PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE, Web of Science, SAGE, Scopus, and Cochrane Library databases and by backward citation searching. We used PRISMA guidelines 2020 to depict the search process for relevant literature. Two authors evaluated included studies using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) independently. Using inclusion and exclusion criteria, we included 15 studies in the final analysis: six quantitative descriptive studies, two randomized studies, six mixed methods studies, and one qualitative study. According to the MMAT, all studies were suitable for further analysis in terms of quality. The studies resorted to various digital tools to improve students' knowledge of behavior change techniques in individuals with chronic disease, leading to greater self-confidence, better cooperation, and practical experience and skills. The most common limitations that have been perceived for using these tools are time and space constraints.
| S-EPMC8774876 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND:Physicians are currently unprepared to treat patients with obesity, which is of great concern given the obesity epidemic in the United States. This study sought to evaluate the current status of obesity education among U.S. medical schools, benchmarking the degree to which medical school curricula address competencies proposed by the Obesity Medicine Education Collaborative (OMEC). METHODS:Invitations to complete an online survey were sent via postal mail to 141 U.S. medical schools compiled from Association of American Medical Colleges. Medical school deans and curriculum staff knowledgeable about their medical school curriculum completed online surveys in the summer of 2018. Descriptive analyses were performed. RESULTS:Forty of 141 medical schools responded (28.4%) and completed the survey. Only 10.0% of respondents believe their students were "very prepared" to manage patients with obesity and one-third reported that their medical school had no obesity education program in place and no plans to develop one. Half of the medical schools surveyed reported that expanding obesity education was a low priority or not a priority. An average of 10?h was reported as dedicated to obesity education, but less than 40% of schools reported that any obesity-related topic was well covered (i.e., to a "great extent"). Medical students received an adequate education (defined as covered to at least "some extent") on the topics of biology, physiology, epidemiology of obesity, obesity-related comorbidities, and evidence-based behavior change models to assess patient readiness for counseling (range: 79.5 to 94.9%). However, in approximately 30% of the schools surveyed, there was little or no education in nutrition and behavioral obesity interventions, on appropriate communication with patients with obesity, or pharmacotherapy. Lack of room in the curriculum was reported as the greatest barrier to incorporating obesity education. CONCLUSIONS:Currently, U.S. medical schools are not adequately preparing their students to manage patients with obesity. Despite the obesity epidemic and high cost burden, medical schools are not prioritizing obesity in their curricula.
| S-EPMC6988262 | biostudies-literature