[Competence-based catalogue of learning objectives for conducting medical consultations]. / Kompetenzbasierter Lernzielkatalog ¼Ärztliche Gesprächsführung« .

ISSUE: In 2012 the German medical licensure regulations (Approbationsordnung) made teaching and assessing the conduction of medical consultations a mandatory part of medical education. A catalogue of learning objectives (LO) based on existing references was developed to assist medical schools in meeting this requirement. METHODS: A body of relevant material was compiled using literature research and surveying experts. Then, in a multiphase Delphi process, this was evaluated and condensed by an interdisciplinary working group in dialogue with external (clinical) experts. Competence levels and examples of clinical application were assigned to enhance implementation. The catalogue was revised by the medical faculties, professional associations and the BVMD. RESULTS: This learning catalogue comprised 116 learning objectives for the specific skills necessary to conducting medical consultations as well as exemplary application contexts. The catalogue proved to be practical in terms of developing curricula and networking at medical schools. DISCUSSION: This catalogue of learning objectives can serve as the basis for developing a sample communication curriculum for use by medical faculties.

Introducing a curricular program culminating in a certificate for training peer tutors in medical education.

AIM: Student tutorials are now firmly anchored in medical education. However, to date there have only been isolated efforts to establish structured teacher training for peer tutors in medicine. To close this gap, a centralized tutor training program for students, culminating in an academic certificate, was implemented at Heidelberg University Medical School. The program also counts within the scope of the post-graduate Baden-Württemberg Certificate in Academic Teaching (Baden-Württemberg Zertifikat für Hochschuldidaktik). METHOD: Based on a needs assessment, a modular program comprised of four modules and a total of 200 curricular units was developed in cooperation with the Department for Key Competencies and Higher Education at Heidelberg University and implemented during the 2010 summer semester. This program covers not only topic-specific training sessions, but also independent teaching and an integrated evaluation of the learning process that is communicated to the graduates in the form of structured feedback. In addition, to evaluate the overall concept, semi-structured interviews (N=18) were conducted with the program graduates. RESULTS: To date, 495 tutors have been trained in the basic module on teaching medicine, which is rated with a mean overall grade of 1.7 (SW: 0.6) and has served as Module I of the program since 2010. A total of 17% (N=83) of these tutors have gone on to enroll in the subsequent training modules of the program; 27 of them (m=12, f=15) have already successfully completed them. Based on qualitative analyses, it is evident that the training program certificate and its applicability toward the advanced teacher training for university instructors pose a major incentive for the graduates. For successful program realization, central coordination, extensive coordination within the medical school, and the evaluation of the attained skills have proven to be of particular importance. CONCLUSION: The training program contributes sustainably to both quality assurance and professionalism, as well as to solving the issue of resources in medical education. The introduction and continued development of similar programs is desirable.