Heidelberg standard examination and "Heidelberg standard procedures" - Development of faculty-wide standards for physical examination techniques and clinical procedures in undergraduate medical education

The competent physical examination of patients and the safe and professional implementation of clinical procedures constitute essential components of medical practice in nearly all areas of medicine. The central objective of the projects "Heidelberg standard examination" and "Heidelberg standard procedures", which were initiated by students, was to establish uniform interdisciplinary standards for physical examination and clinical procedures, and to distribute them in coordination with all clinical disciplines at the Heidelberg University Hospital. The presented project report illuminates the background of the initiative and its methodological implementation. Moreover, it describes the multimedia documentation in the form of pocketbooks and a multimedia internet-based platform, as well as the integration into the curriculum. The project presentation aims to provide orientation and action guidelines to facilitate similar processes in other faculties

"Peer-Assisted Learning"(PAL) in the Skills-Lab – an inventory at the medical faculties of the Federal Republic of Germany

Background: Over multiple years, the didactic concept of „peer-assisted learning“ (PAL) has proved to be valuable for medical education. Particularly in the field of the nowadays widely established Skills-Labs, the assignment of student tutors is both popular and effective. The aim of the underlying study is to assess the current status of PAL programs within German medical faculties’ Skills-Labs regarding their distribution, extent, structure and content based on a nation-wide survey.Methods: All 36 medical faculties in Germany were contacted and asked for their participation (via telephone or in written form) in the survey encompassing 16 central questions as to the structure of established PAL programs. Data obtained were subject to quantitative and qualitative analysis.Results: 35 of 36 (97.2%) medical faculties participated in the survey. A PAL program was shown to be established at 33 (91.7%) faculties. However, the results show distinct differences between different faculties with respect to extent and content of the PAL programs.Conclusions: Among German medical Skills-Labs, PAL has been established almost ubiquitously. Further studies on the conception and standardization of training concepts appear to be pivotal for the advancement of PAL in the context of Skills-Labs