[Patient safety in education and training of healthcare professionals in Germany]. / Wie lernen wir, Patienten sicher zu versorgen? Patientensicherheit in der Ausbildung der Gesundheitsberufe.

In order to improve patient safety, healthcare professionals who care for patients directly or indirectly are required to possess specific knowledge and skills. Patient safety education is not or only poorly represented in education and examination regulations of healthcare professionals in Germany; therefore, it is only practiced rarely and on a voluntary basis. Meanwhile, several training curricula and concepts have been developed in the past 10 years internationally and recently in Germany, too. Based on these concepts the German Coalition for Patient Safety developed a catalogue of core competencies required for safety in patient care. This catalogue will serve as an important orientation when patient safety is to be implemented as a subject of professional education in Germany in the future. Moreover, teaching staff has to be trained and educational and training activities have to be evaluated. Patient safety education and training for (undergraduate) healthcare professional will require capital investment.

[Modular postgraduate training in surgery - a national concept with future]. / Modulare Weiterbildung in der Chirurgie - ein nationales Konzept mit Zukunft.

BACKGROUND: The quality of postgraduate training is an important motivating factor for the career decisions of young doctors and has an impact on the satisfaction of postgraduate trainees. In Germany, we still lack a postgraduate training programme in surgery that defines the competency profile at the time of certification. This article describes the development of a national modular competency-based core curriculum for postgraduate surgery training as well as first experience and evaluation data from the initial period of implementation. METHODS: The curriculum was developed in a group of highly motivated surgeons according to the "Kern-cycle", a conceptual framework for curriculum development in medicine, and includs considerations from the "CanMEDS"-competency framework for physicians. The curriculum follows a "blended learning" concept with modular attendance courses and associated preparatory online courses. The didactics follows the principles of adult learning and are characterised by learner-centred, self-directed learning processes in small groups with feedback. The initial implementation phase was accompanied by a detailed evaluation of the general concept as well as the quality of content and didactics of the attendance courses. RESULTS: Seven of the planned 12 attendance courses have been designed, 6 courses have been implemented2q1. Altogether 562 participants from hospitals of all levels of patient care took part in the attendance courses, some of them in several courses. The gender distribution was almost balanced with a slight female surplus. The majority of participants were supported by their clinics through exemption from clinical work or financial sponsoring. 80 % of the participants completed the evaluation of the attendance courses. The data show a high degree of participant satisfaction with the content and didactic concept of the courses, as well as with the surrounding conditions and the commitment of the trainers. CONCLUSIONS: The evaluation data on the attendance courses implemented reveal a high acceptance among participants concerning the overall concept of the modular postgraduate training programme as well as the support of the programme by surgeons responsible for postgraduate training.