What are the young academics in O und U doing?
Abstract
The shortage of junior doctors is a very important and acute issue. One reason is the impending shortage of doctors and the lack of young medical professionals.
Professional societies take this very seriously and are working hard on a solution. One of the many offerings that are designed for students of medicine is the annual "Summer School” of the German DGOU (German Society for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery).
This article focuses on the SummerSchool of the DGOU and the feedback by the students who attended this Summer School 2010 in Homburg. Its particular interest lies in the question of whether such events are effective in creating an interest for young doctors.
For the evaluation of the course, a questionnaire was created, which had a total of 14 questions. The questionnaire gave the students an opportunity to provide both positive and negative feedback through the use of a sliding scale, 1 being the best and 10 the worst.
The evaluation showed that the overall perception was positive, with some excellent ratings given. In particular personal interaction was an outstanding point. Also the subject Orthopaedics and Trauma Care was better communicated to the students and thus left a longer-lasting impression.
Overall it can be said that formats such as the DGOU Summer School are an important tool in the development of young health care professionals, and that they play a vital part in the attraction of young health care professionals.What seemed of great importance in this context was the close contact and exchange of experience with the teachers.
More time and observations are still required to determine whether or not these efforts had the desired effect on influencing students to choose Orthopaedics and Trauma Care.
