Global Health Education: a cross-sectional study among German medical students to identify needs, deficits and potential benefits (Part 1 of 2: Mobility patterns & educational needs and demands)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In recent years, education and training in global health has been the subject of recurring debate in many countries. However, in Germany, there has been no analysis of the educational needs or demands of medical students, or the educational deficits or potential benefits involved in global health education. Our purpose is to analyse international health elective patterns of medical students enrolled at German universities and assess whether or how they prepare for their electives abroad. We examine the exposure of medical students enrolled at German universities to training courses in tropical medicine or global health and assess students' perceived needs and demands for education in global health.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional study among medical students in Germany including all 36 medical schools during the second half of the year 2007. All registered medical students were eligible to participate in the study. Recruitment occurred via electronic mailing-lists of students' unions. We developed a web-based, semi-structured questionnaire to capture students' international mobility patterns, preparation before electives, destination countries, exposure to and demand for global health learning opportunities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1126 online-replies were received and analysed from all registered medical students in Germany (N = 78.067). 33.0% of all respondents (370/1126) declared at least one international health elective and of these, 36.0% (133/370) completed their electives in developing countries. 36.0% (131/363) did not prepare specifically at all, 59.0% (214/363) prepared either by self-study or declared a participation in specific preparation programmes. 87.8% of 5^thand 6^thyear students had never participated in a global health course and 72.6% (209/288) had not completed a course in tropical medicine. 94.0% (861/916) endorsed the idea of introducing global health into medical education.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Students in our sample are highly mobile during their studies. International health electives are common, also in developing countries. Formal preparation beyond self-study is virtually non-existent amongst our sample and the participation rate in courses of tropical medicine or global health is appallingly low. We have identified unmet perceived needs and the demand for more learning opportunities in global health in our sample, urging for reforms to adjust curricula to a globalising world.</p

Global Health Education: a cross-sectional study among German medical students to identify needs, deficits and potential benefits (Part 2 of 2: Knowledge gaps and potential benefits)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Germany, educational deficits or potential benefits involved in global health education have not been analysed till now.</p> <p>Objective</p> <p>We assess the importance medical students place on learning about social determinants of health (SDH) and assess their knowledge of global health topics in relation to (i) mobility patterns, their education in (ii) tropical medicine or (iii) global health.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional study among medical students from all 36 medical schools in Germany using a web-based, semi-structured questionnaire. Participants were recruited via mailing-lists of students' unions, all medical students registered in 2007 were eligible to participate in the study. We captured international mobility patterns, exposure to global health learning opportunities and attitudes to learning about SDH. Both an objective and subjective knowledge assessment were performed.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>1126 online-replies were received and analysed. International health electives in developing countries correlated significantly with a higher importance placed on all provided SDH (p ≤ 0.006). Participation in tropical medicine (p < 0.03) and global health courses (p < 0.02) were significantly associated with a higher rating of 'culture, language and religion' and the 'economic system'. Global health trainings correlated with significantly higher ratings of the 'educational system' (p = 0.007) and the 'health system structure' (p = 0.007), while the item 'politics' was marginally significant (p = 0.053).</p> <p>In the knowledge assessment students achieved an average score of 3.6 (SD 1.5; Mdn 4.0), 75% achieved a score of 4.0 or less (Q₂₅= 3.0; Q₇₅= 4.0) from a maximum achievable score of 8.0. A better performance was associated with international health electives (p = 0.032), participation in tropical medicine (p = 0.038) and global health (p = 0.258) courses.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The importance medical students in our sample placed on learning about SDH strongly interacts with students' mobility, and participation in tropical medicine and global health courses. The knowledge assessment revealed deficits and outlined needs to further analyse education gaps in global health. Developing concerted educational interventions aimed at fostering students' engagement with SDH could make full use of synergy effects inherent in student mobility, tropical medicine and global health education.</p

Meeting the long-term health needs of Ukrainian refugees

OBJECTIVES: Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, millions of people have fled the country. Most people have gone to the neighbouring countries of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova. This vulnerable population has significant healthcare needs. Among the most challenging to address will be chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including mental disorders, as these require long-term, continuous care and access to medicines. Host country health systems are faced with the challenge of ensuring accessible and affordable care for NCDs and mental disorders to this population. Our objectives were to review host country health system experiences and identify priorities for research to inform sustainable health system responses to the health care needs of refugees from Ukraine. STUDY DESIGN: In-person conference workshop. METHODS: A workshop on this subject was held in November 2022 at the European Public Health Conference in Berlin. RESULTS: The workshop included participants from academia and non-governmental organisations, health practitioners, and World Health Organisation regional and country offices. This short communication reports the main conclusions from the workshop. CONCLUSION: Addressing the challenges and research priorities identified will require international solidarity and co-operation

Meeting the health needs of displaced people fleeing Ukraine: Drawing on existing technical guidance and evidence.

The invasion of Ukraine has unleashed a humanitarian crisis and the impact is devastating for millions displaced in Ukraine and for those fleeing the country. Receiving countries in Europe are reeling with shock and disbelief and trying at the same time to grapple with the reality of providing for a large, unplanned, unprecedented number of refugees mainly women and children on the move. Several calls for actions, comments and statements express outrage, the risks, and the impending consequences to life and health. There is a need to constantly assess the situation on the ground, identify priorities for health and provide guidance regarding how these needs could be addressed. Therefore, the Lancet Migration European Regional Hub conducted rapid interviews with key informants to identify these needs, and in collaboration with the World Health Organization Health and Migration Programme, summarized how these could be addressed. This viewpoint provides a summary of the situation in receiving countries and the technical guidance required that could be useful for providing assistance in the current refugee crisis

Social and health epidemiology of immigrants in Germany: past, present and future

Razum O, Wenner J. Social and health epidemiology of immigrants in Germany: past, present and future. Public Health Reviews. 2016;37(1): 4.Germany has experienced different forms of immigration for many decades. At the end of and after the Second World War, refugees, displaced persons and German resettlers constituted the largest immigrant group. In the 1950s, labor migration started, followed by family reunification. There has been a constant migration of refugees and asylum seekers reaching peaks in the early 1990s as well as today. Epidemiological research has increasingly considered the health, and the access to health care, of immigrants and people with migration background. In this narrative review we discuss the current knowledge on health of immigrants in Germany. The paper is based on a selective literature research with a focus on studies using representative data from the health reporting system. Our review shows that immigrants in Germany do not suffer from different diseases than non-immigrants, but they differ in their risk for certain diseases, in the resources to cope with theses risk and regarding access to treatment. We also identified the need for differentiation within the immigrant population, considering among others social and legal status, country of origin and duration of stay. Though most of the studies acknowledge the need for differentiation, the lack of data currently rules out analyses accounting for the existing diversity and thus a full understanding of health inequalities related to migration to Germany

Using co-authorship networks to map and analyse global Neglected Tropical Disease research with an affiliation to Germany

Neglected tropical disease research has changed considerably in recent decades, and the German government is committed to addressing its past neglect of NTD research. Our aim was to use an innovative social network analysis of bibliometric data to map neglected tropical disease research networks that are inside of and affiliated with Germany, thereby enabling data-driven health policy decision-making. We created and analysed co-author networks from publications in the SCOPUS database, with a focus on five diseases. We found that Germany's share of global publication output for NTDs is approximately half that of other medical research fields. Furthermore, we identified institutions with prominent NTD research within Germany and strong research collaborations between German institutions and partners abroad, mostly in other high-income countries. This allowed an assessment of strong collaborations for further development, e.g., for research capacity strengthening in low-income-countries, but also for identifying missed opportunities for collaboration within the network. Through co-authorship network analysis of individual researcher networks, we identified strong performers by using classic bibliometric parameters, and we identified academic talent by social network analysis parameters on an individual level