Final year medical education in Germany

Abstract

Medical education in Germany has undergone significant changes. The current article attempts to give an overview of final year medical education in Germany and implications for further developments. Challenges in final year medical education mainly arise from the lack of clearly defined learning objectives, the provision of structure, independent patient management and professional guidance and supervision. The abolition of the one-and-a-half-year period of pre-registration medical training in 2004 and the changes in the structure of state examinations in line with the amendment of medical licensing regulations in 2002, meant pressure on the efficiency of final year medical education on the one hand, and additional burden on final year students on the other. In this article, a broad variety of innovative models that have been implemented at different medical faculties, and which address final year students' needs, will be reported. Further challenges, such as the integration of general medicine rotations, the abolishment of the second state examination in its present form, and the integration of final year students' individual career plans will be discussed.