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. 2014 Aug 15;31(3):Doc29.
doi: 10.3205/zma000921. eCollection 2014.

Examination performances of German and international medical students in the preclinical studying-term--a descriptive study

D Huhn  1 , F Resch  2 , R Duelli  2 , A Möltner  3 , J Huber  1 , K Karimian Jazi  4 , A Amr  4 , W Eckart  5 , W Herzog  1 , C Nikendei  1
Affiliations

Examination performances of German and international medical students in the preclinical studying-term--a descriptive study

D Huhn et al. GMS Z Med Ausbild. .

Abstract
in English, German

Introduction: Medical students with a migration background face several specific problems during their studies. International surveys show first indications that this group of students performs worse in written, oral or practical exams. However, so far, nothing is known about the performance of international students in written pre-clinical tests as well as in pre-clinical State Examinations for German-speaking countries.

Method: A descriptive, retrospective analysis of the exam performances of medical students in the pre-clinical part of their studies was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine of Heidelberg in for the year 2012. Performance in written tests of the final exams in the second (N=276), third (N=292) and fourth semester (N=285) were compared between German students, students from EU countries and students from non-EU countries. Same comparison was drawn for the performance in the oral exam of the First State Examination in the period from 2009 - 2012 (N=1137).

Results: German students performed significantly better than students with a non-EU migration background both in all written exams and in the oral State Examination (all p<.05). The performance of students with an EU migration background was significantly better than that of students with a non-EU background in the written exam at the end of the third and fourth semester (p<.05). Furthermore, German students completed the oral exam of the First State Examination significantly earlier than students with a non-EU migration background (<.01).

Discussion: Due to its poorer performance in written and oral examinations and its simultaneously longer duration of study, the group of non-German medical students with a country of origin outside of the European Union has to be seen as a high-risk group among students with a migration background. For this group, there is an urgent need for early support to prepare for written and oral examinations.

Einleitung: Medizinstudierende mit Migrationshintergrund sind im Rahmen ihres Studiums mit zahlreichen spezifischen Problemen konfrontiert. Internationale Studien geben erste Hinweise darauf, dass diese Gruppe von Studierenden schlechtere Leistungen sowohl in schriftlichen als auch in mündlichen oder praktischen Prüfungen erbringt. Für den deutschsprachigen Raum existieren bisher in Hinblick auf diesen thematischen Fokus keinerlei Erkenntnisse.Methode: Für das Jahr 2012 wurde eine deskriptive, retrospektive Analyse der Prüfungsleistungen von Medizinstudierenden des vorklinischen Studienabschnitts an der Medizinischen Fakultät Heidelberg für schriftliche Noten der Semesterabschlussklausuren im zweiten (N=276), dritten (N=292) und vierten Fachsemester (N=285) vorgenommen und für die deutschen Studierenden, die Studierenden aus dem EU-Ausland als auch die Studierenden aus dem nicht-EU-Ausland verglichen. Gleiches geschah mit den mündlichen Noten des ersten Staatsexamens für den Zeitraum 2009 - 2012 (N=1137).Ergebnisse: Deutsche Studierende erzielten in allen Semesterabschlussklausuren sowie in der mündlichen Staatsexamensprüfung signifikant bessere Ergebnisse als Studierende mit einem nicht-EU-staatlichen Migrationshintergrund (alle p<.05). In den Klausuren des dritten und vierten Fachsemesters waren zudem die erbrachten Leistungen der Studierenden mit einem EU-staatlichen Hintergrund signifikant besser als die ihrer außereuropäischen Kommilitonen (p<.05). Außerdem zeigte sich, dass deutsche Studierende zu einem signifikant früheren Zeitpunkt die mündliche Staatsexamensprüfung absolvierten als Studierende mit einem nicht-EU-staatlichen Hintergrund (p<.01).Diskussion: Die Gruppe der nicht-deutschen Medizinstudierenden mit einem Herkunftsland außerhalb der Europäischen Union ist mit schlechteren Prüfungsergebnissen bei zeitgleich längerer Studienzeit als hochrelevante Risikogruppe innerhalb der Studierenden nicht-deutscher Herkunft auszumachen.

Keywords: assessment; international medical students; migration; undergraduate medical education.

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Figures

Table 1
Table 1. Descriptive presentation of written exams’ samples of the second, third and fourth semester
Table 2
Table 2. Mann-Whitney-U-Test for marks in written exams in German, EU- and non-EU-students
Table 3
Table 3. Mann-Whitney-U-Test for marks in oral state examination or number of semesters to the time of the examination in German, EU- and non-EU-students
Figure 1
Figure 1. Bar diagram for differences between German, EU- and non-EU-students concerning the achieved marks in written exams of 2nd, 3rd and 4th semester
Figure 2
Figure 2. Bar diagram for differences between German, EU- and non-EU-students concerning the achieved marks in the oral state examination
Figure 3
Figure 3. Bar diagram for differences between German, EU- and non-EU-students concerning the number of semesters to the time of the oral state examination
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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