Basic Principles of Science in Medical Education—Development and Implementation of a Two Week Introductory Track

Abstract

It has been argued that medical education lacks a specific focus on scientific skills and competencies. A recently developed compulsory introductory track on the basic principles of science in medicine was integrated into the medical curriculum at the University Medical Center in Hamburg, Germany. The curriculum of the two-week track included six lectures and six classes. All first term students of medicine participated on a mandatory basis. Data on student satisfaction were obtained in an online evaluation process. Content of the classes was reading and critical examination of scientific papers, searching and citing literature, discussion of ethical aspects in medical science and the presentation of scientific results. Lectures were held on the basic principles of the research process, types of epidemiological studies, ethical aspects in medical science and examples of scientific research in medicine. Evaluation showed high overall satisfaction among students. Our experiences and students’ evaluation suggest that teaching science can be successfully implemented in the medical curriculum. This is one of the first successful implementations of teaching basic principles of science in medical curricula in Germany. We suggest to integrate different disciplines in the development and implementation process and to implement the introductory track early in the medical curriculum.