Same same but different - A qualitative study on the development and maintenance of personal networks among German and international medical students.

Introduction: In addition to linguistic and cultural difficulties, problems with social integration are frequently found among international medical students. In contrast, the social interaction among German medical students is considered as non-problematic. Personal networks are considered as positively influencing factors for the learning environment of students as well as their academic performance and personal wellbeing. However, while general findings on the development and maintenance of personal networks among medical students are available, there is insufficient data on students with different nationality or cultural backgrounds. Therefore, we compared the perception of international and German medical students on the development and maintenance of personal networks and examined possible influencing factors. Methodology: Following the principles of theoretical sampling in qualitative research, we recruited 17 international and 10 German preclinical medical students. The survey was conducted with semi-structured interviews, which focused on the participants' experiences with the development and maintenance of personal networks in medical school. The coding and analysis of the interview transcripts was based on the principles of grounded theory. Results: We show that German participants rated the network development in medical school much more positively than the international participants. This difference was influenced by: a different perception of affiliation to the group of medical students, a low academic benefit from contacts with international students, the socio-cultural framework of medical school as well as the individual strategies of international medical students in dealing with integration. Conclusion: Our study extends existing insights into the development and maintenance of the social environment in medical school by understanding the perception of a subgroup of medical students. A better understanding of these social processes enables an effective evaluation of support and teaching for the subgroup of international medical students in Germany.

On center field or at the sidelines? - A plea for a multimodal approach between medical schools and medical student communities while integrating international medical students.

An increasing number of medical schools offer support services for international students. Their frequent focus on linguistic and academic support often reflects a rather deficit-oriented perception of international medical students. Therefore, this comment advocates a stronger focus on the integration into the local medical student communities. This happens both against the background of the expected academic benefits and the added value of intercultural learning at medical schools.

Symposium "International Medical Students - Support Programs in Practical Application": Networking, best-practice examples and local representation.

The new project "International Medical Students" within the German Medical Students' Association (bvmd) aims at connecting local support programs for international medical students as well as the representation of their interests within the bvmd. Within the frame of this project, the first symposium "International Medical Students - Support Programs in Practical Application" took place from the 12th to the 14th of May 2017 at the Hannover Medical School (MHH). Through partaking in different workshops, 31 participants discussed the framework conditions of local work (i.e. curricula, tutorials, social offers, cooperation between faculty members and student body, legal aspects), common problems (i.e. addressing the target group, funding of support programs) and possible solutions (i.e. targeted advertisement, application for public funds). This report constitutes a summary of the results of these discussions. The feedback from the participants on the need for such a regular exchange and the format of the symposium was positive. However, there were requests for further thematic specification. Based on this feedback the next symposium is planned for 2018.