Medical Faculty Magdeburg discusses readiness for the clinical practicum in Magdeburg; logbook adoption and skills-lab integration planned
Medical Faculty/University Hospital Magdeburg - Focus on PJ Readiness
As part of aprogram conferenceheld on April 22, 2026, on the topic “Competency-Based Approach in Medical Education: Focus on Readiness for the Clinical Practicum,” students and faculty, together with internal and external experts from other universities and alumni, discussedkey challenges and future prospects for medical education.
In the run-up to the program conference, separate surveys were conducted among students and faculty on three key questions for the conference:
What must students be able to do at the start of the clinical internship?
How can we promote the development of clinical-practical competencies?
How can we validate readiness for the clinical internship?
Participants emphasized that consistent alignment with the national competency-based learning objectives catalog is essential. Theory and practice should be closely intertwined from the start of the program in the spirit of a didactic learning spiral. While foundational theoretical knowledge remains indispensable, there is also a strongneed for a more robust structural integration of practical training components.
In this context, the strongerintegration of skills lab courses into the curriculumwas discussed. In particular, expanding existing offerings and utilizingpeer-teaching approachescould both improve practical training and make more efficient use of human resources. Practical teaching formats should not be optional but established as an integral part of the curriculum.
Existing teaching formats were also critically discussed: block clinical rotations currently often offer too little scope for independent practical activities with a feedback culture aimed at developing students’ competencies and are overly dominated by the transmission of theoretical knowledge. Students should be actively involved in patient care at an early stage and under supervision.
Further measures highlighted included the stronger establishment of case-based learning and clinical reasoning. High-quality feedback on practical skills was also identified as a central component of training.
Regarding the assessment of clinical internship readiness, participants opposed an additional, time-consuming clinical internship readiness OSCE (OSCE – Objective Structured Clinical Examination). Instead, the existing state examination (M2) was considered a sufficient basis. Additionally, theintroduction of a logbook to document practical competencies throughout the entire clinical phase of studywas highlighted as a sensible measure. Smaller OSCEs (e.g., at the end of the 4th and 5th years of study) to assess basic skills should be retained and expanded into interdisciplinary OSCEs.
The conference made it clear that continuous development of the curriculum is necessary to keep pace with the constant growth of knowledge while simultaneously creating space for new, practice-relevant content. This requires a willingness to critically examine existing structures and implement innovative teaching concepts.
Photo: Panel discussion participants, from left to right: Dr. Kirstin Winkler-Stuck (Head of the Office of the Dean of Studies), Prof. Dr. Christoph Lohmann (Dean of Studies), Pia Rebmann (Rostock Medical Faculty, external professional representative), Josef Caballero (Halle Medical Faculty, external student representative), Dr. Kathrin Feindt (Quality and Program Development at OVGU), Melis Tas (internal student representative), Jenny Appelt (Faculty Quality Officer for Human Medicine), Niklas Leschowski (St. Marien Hospital Lünen, alumni), Dr. Matthias Kunz (internal professional representative), Prof. Dr. Thorsten Schäfer (Dean of Studies and Director of the Center for Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine at Ruhr University Bochum, external university professor). Photo: private