Bonn Medical students blitz the new multicenter study
The responsibility over smoking patients is a reality that faces our future doctors. Yesterday, members of the volunteer organization “Education against Tobacco” of the medical faculty of Bonn successfully sat their university tests and the OSCE exam, in which, in accordance with current guidelines, they had to advise a mock patient on how to quit smoking.
As the first university to be tested in the multicenter study, the Bonn medical students set the bar high, with their outstanding performance. “It was clear that they really prepared themselves, despite – or perhaps, because of – the voluntary and non-binding nature of the organization”, says the program lecturer and medical student Janina Suhre. In the upcoming semester, the program will be integrated into the course at least as an elective, and hopefully as a standard part of the curriculum.
Medical student Titus Brinker arrived from Gießen to act as a second assessor: “It’s amazing how many medical students voluntarily participate in an additional exam, with intensive preparation, especially considering they’re in the middle of the university examination period. This really shows they’re willing to show responsibility towards patients who currently receive largely insufficient or no advice from doctors in Germany. Smoking is a chronic addiction, which needs to be given attention equal to the attention given to conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes. Unfortunately, even at the end of their studies, most medical students don’t know how they can help patients in accordance with medical guidelines and regulation – a clear deficit in the way medical programs are being taught.”
More information about the project can be found here: http://gegentabak.de/medizinische-lehre/. The volunteer medical students participating in the study are: Lisa Zipfel, Lisa Allenstein, Sandrine Künzel, Johanna Schäfgen, Mark Hoffmann, Eliza Armeni, Ivana Zednicek, Judit Schultewolter, Caroline Wolpers, Timo Vogt, Stefan Hardt, Stefanie Frohn, Magdalena Schäfer and Roya Schildgen.
The medical students of Janina Suhre: Lisa Zipfel, Lisa Allenstein, Sandrine Künzel, Johanna Schäfgen, Mark Hoffmann, Eliza Armeni, Ivana Zednicek, Judit Schultewolter, Caroline Wolpers, Timo Vogt, Stefan Hardt, Stefanie Frohn, Magdalena Schäfer, Roya Schildgen