Medical student attitudes on vaccination relevance: A mixed-method study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The study aims to investigate the attitudes of medical students regarding the importance and relevance of vaccinations, whether vaccinations should be compulsory and how to employ a new teaching concept to deal with vaccination-critical parents. METHODS: This mixed-method study consists of a quantitative questionnaire and focus groups. Quantitative data were analysed by calculating the descriptive statistics, and interviews were analysed using Mayring's content analysis. RESULTS: A total of 170 medical students completed the questionnaire, and 59 students participated in 9 focus groups. Students reported that they felt more confident dealing with vaccination-critical parents after learning the new teaching concept. Similar results were found for medical students prior to and during the pandemic. During the pandemic, medical students viewed vaccinations for several diseases, such as measles or COVID-19, as important (range: M = 3.56, SD = 0.54 to M = 3.97, SD = 0.17). Similar results were found for medical students prior to the pandemic (range: M = 3.26, SD = 0.77 to M = 3.94, SD = 0.24). In the focus groups, however, medical students displayed controversial attitudes regarding compulsory vaccinations. CONCLUSIONS: While the medical students agreed on the use of vaccination for highly infectious diseases, their level of agreement decreased depending on the severity of the disease. Practical recommendations that come out of the study are creating a trustful relationship with and delivering information to patients.

Medical teachers' perception of professional roles in the framework of the German National Competence-Based Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM)-A multicenter study.

BACKGROUND: Based on CanMEDS and others, the German National Competence-Based Learning Objectives for Undergraduate Medical Education (NKLM) were recently consented. International studies recommend integrating national and cultural context when transferring a professional roles framework in different countries. Teachers' misconceptions may establish barriers in role understanding and implementation. OBJECTIVES: The aim is to analyze medical teachers' rating and perception of NKLM roles in order to reveal differences to official definitions. METHODS: A two-step sequential mixed methods design was used including a survey and focus groups with N = 80 medical teachers from four German universities. RESULTS: Most of the teachers highly valued the importance of the role "Medical Expert" and understood comprehensively. The Communicator and the Collaborator were rated fairly and perceived to a large extent. Other intrinsic roles like Health Advocate and Scholar showed more deficits in perception and less importance by the participants. This was seen generally problematic and should be considered carefully. Manager and professional showed one-sided weaknesses either in importance or perception. CONCLUSION: Medical teachers considered NKLM roles relevant for medical practice, although their role perception differed considerably. The value and risk matrix visualizes the specific role profile and offers strategic implications for NKLM communication and handling, thus supporting change management.