[The new German educational law for medical schools: the Hamburg concept in dermatology and venereology]

Impact of the New McGill Undergraduate Medical Curriculum on Medical Students' Diagnostic Accuracy of Common Dermatoses Encountered in Primary Care

BACKGROUND

The McGill Faculty of Medicine implemented a new undergraduate medical curriculum in 2013 with additional preclinical lectures in dermatology. At the time of writing, no Canadian prospective study has been published on undergraduate dermatology training in the context of a complete curricular renewal.

OBJECTIVES

Our study was designed to determine the impact of increasing preclinical teaching in dermatology on medical students' diagnostic accuracy and learning retention of common dermatoses encountered in primary care.

METHODS

A standardized questionnaire was administered to the Classes of 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2018 in 6 versions for a total of 6 times over their 4 years of training. Each version featured 10 photographs of common dermatoses encountered in primary care. Students were invited to participate anonymously and on a voluntary basis.

RESULTS

A small absolute, but statistically significant difference, of 3% was detected in the fourth and final year of training between the old curriculum (average score = 70%, standard deviation = 15%) and the new curriculum (average score = 73%, standard deviation = 15%), P = .03. Furthermore, the Class of 2018's performance improved year by year over the entire 4 years of the new curriculum.

CONCLUSIONS

Additional preclinical lectures in dermatology do improve medical students' diagnostic accuracy of common dermatoses encountered in primary care. Furthermore, they do retain their learning throughout the preclinical and clerkship years.

Core Content for Undergraduate Medical Education in Spain: Recommendations of the Instructors' Group of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV)

BACKGROUND

Skin problems are among the most frequent reasons for seeking medical attention in primary care. In recent years, as a result of the process of adapting medical curricula to the requirements of the European Higher Education Area, the amount of time students spend learning the concepts of dermatology has been reduced in many universities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In order to reach a consensus on core content for undergraduate education in dermatology, we sent a survey to the 57 members of the instructors' group of the Spanish Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (AEDV), asking their opinions on what objectives should be set for a dermatology course in Spain. A total of 131 previously selected objectives were listed. We then applied the Delphi method to achieve consensus on which ones the respondents considered important or very important (score≥4 on a Likert scale).

RESULTS

Nineteen responses (33%) were received. On the second round of the Delphi process, 68 objectives achieved average scores of at least 4. The respondents emphasized that graduates should understand the structure and functions of the skin and know about bacterial, viral, and fungal skin infections, the most common sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and the 4 main inflammatory dermatoses. Students should also learn about common complaints, such as itching and bald patches; the management of dermatologic emergencies; purpura and erythema nodosum as signs of internal disease; and the prevention of STDs and skin cancer. During clinical clerkships students should acquire the communication skills they will need to interview patients, write up a patient's medical history, and refer the patient to a specialist.

CONCLUSIONS

The AEDV's group of instructors have defined their recommendations on the core content that medical faculties should adopt for the undergraduate subject of dermatology in Spain.

Die neue Approbationsordnung für Ärzte

After the amendments to the regulations for the licence to practice medicine, the rating of the faculty of anesthesiology has clearly increased. In the following article a concept will be described whereby these standards were implemented at the University of Hamburg. The basic principle, especially the training in the practical proficiencies, is to achieve a continuous learning process from students through to specialists for anesthesiology.