Individual and institutional influencing factors on completion rates in a medical education master's program in Germany.

Background: The increasing significance of didactic aspects in medical education has also led to the development of special postgraduate programs. Completion rates represent an important outcome criterion for these programs of study. Up to today, detailed studies on what factors influence these completion rates have been lacking. Methods: Within the framework of outcomes research, a semi-structured online survey of students was conducted in the Master of Medical Education Germany program. Of the 90 items, 21 referred to the master's thesis that is required for graduation. Results: 157 out of 246 (63.8%) of students from classes 1-10 of the program (study period 2004-2014) participated in the survey. 109 participants had submitted a master's thesis, whereas 45 participants had not completed their studies by submitting a master's thesis. Influencing factors of successful completion were, among other things, little difficulty in choosing the topic, retention of the originally chosen topic, general support by the program administration in the modules and ensuring timely feedback from the advisor, and the provision of temporal, staff and financial resources by the home faculty. The failure to turn in the project report and a lengthy interruption of master thesi's work could be identified as critical parameters. Conclusion: Taking into account these results can contribute to increasing completion rates in medical education graduate programs. Systematic outcomes research leads, moreover, to quality assurance. Such studies should be conducted in a standardized manner in the future, in order to facilitate comparisons between medical education programs.

Simulated patients in medical education - a survey on the current status in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Objective: In German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), simulated patients (SPs) have been a fixture for years and are used in teaching and examinations. As part of ongoing methodological standardization efforts and to support current and future faculty and curriculum developments, this exploratory study systematically investigates how and under what framework and conditions SPs are currently used in German-speaking countries. Methodology: The online questionnaire developed in cooperation with the Committee for Simulated Patients of the Society for Medical Education comprises 58 questions covering the organization and administration, size and design of the SP pool, general conditions and minimum standards for the assignments of the SPs. All medical faculties from Germany, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland were invited to participate in the survey and a descriptive data analysis was performed. Results: 38 responses from 45 faculties were included in the evaluation of the survey (response rate: 84.4%). Most SP programs are affiliated with the Office of the Dean of Studies and skills labs or training centers and funded by faculty resources. Both the working hours in the SP programs and the qualifications of the employees vary extensively. The same applies to the number and average age of the employed SPs. On average each faculty uses 1,290 SP hours per year (min=45, max=6,500). The majority of SPs are used in a teaching environment, together with lecturers. At all sites, SPs provide feedback to students. This is always based on a uniform standard. All SPs receive training, which predominantly focuses on playing their role and giving feedback. Discussion: There are a variety of SP programs in German-speaking countries. While there are a few clear similarities (for example, feedback from SPs), many organizational and methodological aspects are handled differently. Although this allows innovation and flexibility, it also weakens the didactic SP method in its standardization and thus in the comparability of quality. A certain degree of standardization and high methodical quality is of great importance, especially in scientific and faculty internal discussions and with a view to the use of SPs in high-stakes examinations which must be improved in the future.