[Development of Interprofessional Learning Outcomes for Health Professions at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin - A Delphi-Study]. / Entwicklung interprofessioneller Ausbildungsziele für die Gesundheitsberufe an der Charité ­ Universitätsmedizin Berlin ­ Eine Delphi-Studie.

OBJECTIVES: The impact of interprofessional (IP) collaboration on patient-centered care is constantly increasing. Health professional students need to be prepared for interprofessional collaboration in the workplace. The Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin aims to establish a common understanding of interprofessionalism in order to further develop interprofessional education. The aim of this study was to develop a framework with IP learning outcomes for the local context. MATERIALS AND METHODS: IP training goals were developed and validated in a systematic, 2-step process. First, a working group (n=12) developed a draft of IP outcomes using the nominal group technique. This draft was validated with a Delphi study in 2 rounds with IP faculty members and students (n=17). RESULTS: A framework of IP learning outcomes was developed and validated. It included an introductory text and 4 competency domains. Each domain defined a title, a description and operationalized learning outcomes for the areas of knowledge, skills and attitude. CONCLUSIONS: The framework resulting from the development and validation of IP learning outcomes at the Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin can be used as a basis for the coordinated implementation of IPE at the faculty. This framework may serve other faculties as a basis for their own development of interprofessional education.

Communication skills training in undergraduate medical education at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin.

Objective: The objective of this article is a description of the longitudinal communication curriculum in the Model Medicine Curriculum (MSM) at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin. The authors describe the planning and integration of the curriculum into the study program, outline how communicative competence is taught and evaluated in the MSM, and identify which challenges need to be mastered in the process. Project description: Starting with the introduction of the MSM in 2010, students have been spending 102 class hours, spread out over seven semesters, practicing social and communicative competences in the interactive small group format "Communication, Interaction & Teamwork (KIT)". The course contents are closely linked to the topics covered each semester and increase in complexity over the course of their studies. The contents are selected by the KIT planning group whose members continually check the curriculum's timeliness and determine any changes. Students as well as instructors have opportunities for evaluating KIT throughout, and their evaluations are taken into consideration as KIT continues to be updated. Instructors from different disciplines teach KIT courses. They participate in mandatory didactic trainings that prepare them to teach KIT. During their 4th and 9th semesters, respectively, students take summative exams that test their communicative competence. Results: According to the semester evaluations by students and instructors, students participating in KIT improved their conversation management skills (students: M=2.2, SD=1.1, instructors: M=1.9, SD=0.7, on a scale of 1-5). In addition, students and graduates rate KIT to be (very) relevant, consider the degree to which it is taught in the MSM to be (very) high, and consider KIT to be a meaningful part of the curriculum. Students taking the summative exams in their 4th and 9th semesters achieve a mean score of 75.9%, respectively 76.9%, in the purely communicative stations and 82.6%, respectively 83.3%, in the global evaluation of communicative competence in clinical-practical stations. Discussion: Survey and exam results alike indicate that the communication training is well accepted by students and instructors and that the training led to an improvement in general and specific communicative skills. Due to a lack of control groups or a pre-post design, it has thus far not been possible to unequivocally demonstrate a causal relationship between communicative competence trainings and good test results. Quality control measures, such as trainings for instructors and regular course evaluations, have been designed to address any challenges in the implementation of the communication curriculum at the faculty level. Conclusion: Building on the experience with the Charité's Reformed Medical Curriculum, a longitudinal, competence-based communication curriculum was integrated into the MSM's overall curriculum. This measure remedied a gap in the medical training that many graduates of regular study programs had previously bemoaned (Jansen 2010 [1]).

The other way around: does health predict perceived support?

The aim in this study was to identify predictors of perceived social support before and after cataract surgery. We hypothesized that physical (comorbidity and visual acuity) and mental (depressive symptoms) health indicators would be directly and indirectly (through actually received support) associated with perceived support. One hundred and thirty-six cataract patients (69% women; mean age = 71.6 years) completed questionnaires before and after cataract surgery. Results showed that received support partially mediated the association between depressive symptoms and perceived support. However, mental and physical health variables were also directly associated with perceived support. We conclude that health status might feedback to perceptions of available support.

Affect and enacted support in couples undergoing in-vitro fertilization: when providing is better than receiving.

Although the term social support has positive connotations, research has shown that receiving help may be a double-edged sword. Received support may have no effects or may even be detrimental to recipients' well-being. However, providing support may have beneficial effects for the helper. This paper reports a study of competing and interactive effects of enacted support on affect in couples undergoing assisted reproduction treatments. Sixty-six male/female couples from two German fertility clinics participated in this study. Affect and support were assessed at 3 time points: upon oocyte and sperm collection, after embryo transfer, and following the first pregnancy test (3 weeks after the treatment outcomes were known). Results indicated that depending on the providers' gender, different forms of support provision predicted better affect developments. While women seemed to benefit from providing emotional support, higher positive affect among men was related to their provision of instrumental support. Neither support receipt nor reciprocal support, however, were reliably associated with affect changes. Results partially coincide with predictions from esteem-enhancement theory of supportive exchanges.