[The category gender and meeting standards for medical education as a result]. / Die Kategorie Geschlecht und die daraus resultierenden Anforderungen an die medizinische Ausbildung.

The Medical School Hanover, Institute of History, Ethics and Philosophy in Medicine, in co-operation with the University of Bristol, School for Policy Studies, carried out a project to examine the meaning of gender in medical education and to detect methods to incorporate the gender-perspective from public health research and gender studies as an interdisciplinary programme into medical education. The duration of the project was limited to two years, and funded by the EU from 2001 to 2003. The study clearly shows that the category gender is being very slowly introduced into medical education at medical faculties and medical universities in Europe. Questions are primary focussed on biological differences between the sexes of patients, whereas gender studies touch gender relationships in occupations, interactions and communication, different styles of leadership etc. The adaptation of this approach may lead to a new understanding of the doctor-patient-interaction as well as of the relationship between teachers and students.

Domestic violence--a comparison of activities in the health care sector in Brazil and Germany.

During the last decades an, international discussion has started on how to reduce the gender gap in women's and men's health. Feminist activists and public health scientists in Canada, Latin America (foremost Brazil), the States and South Africa issued a declaration of intention to focus on health impacts caused by gender-related domestic violence. In Europe, and particularly in Germany, the topic as an issue of medical care has lately been given increased attention. In this article, we present activities undertaken to overcome the obstacles in integrating the topic of domestic violence as a medical issue. The successful Brazilian strategy served as a model, in particular for implementing a hot-line for victims of domestic violence within the day-to-day clinical setting. The General Medical Council (Arztekammer), the Women's Medical Association of Lower-Saxony, and the Hanover Medical School founded a working committee "domestic violence" in co-operation with the Ministry of Women, Work and Social Affairs. Between 2002 and 2003, this task force worked out several guidelines and hand-outs for physicians to promote gender-sensitive treatment of abused women, gaining increasing acceptance by the German medical care providers in medical education and in-training services for physicians.

[The importance of the parameter sex & gender in anesthesia and intensive care medicine dealing with patients under alcohol influence]. / Die Bedeutung des Parameters Geschlecht im Umgang mit alkoholisierten PatientInnen in der Anästhesie und Intensivmedizin.

Alcoholised females and males belong to a specific group of risk patients in anesthesia and intensive care medicine. Knowledge about effects touching the interaction of chronic alcohol consumption and acute alcohol abuse with other drugs is on a very low level. The assessment of risk depends on several factors. In addition to the judgement of grades of seriousness of an alcohol intoxication the parameter of sex and gender can be seen as much a prominent parameter as age, morbidity, and co-morbidity. This thesis is confirmed by some significant sex-based biological differences related to biological effects of alcohol consumption and differences in pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics of anesthetics. The high rate of injuries and accidents under the influence of alcohol, strongly recommends the detection of a sex- and gender-sensitive approach by anesthesia and intensive care medicine to patients with chronic or acute alcohol abuse.