Curriculum development, NKLM, digitization

The aim of the MHH model degree course in medicine is to train physicians who are able to deal with sick people in a competent and empathetic manner on the one hand; on the other hand, they should know the molecular mechanisms and causes of diseases. Students should experience the medical profession from the very beginning of their training and grow into their work as physicians integrated into everyday clinical practice at the MHH. In order to be able to implement the claim of a patient-oriented and practice-oriented medical degree program, the MHH developed a curriculum specific to the model study program and curricula for the individual modules.

What actually is a curriculum? In addition to the organizational and content-related structure of the course, the curriculum (lat.: course, progression) provides a systematic overview of all information relating to the course. In this way, it gives students an orientation as to what the subject or course of study expects of them. In addition, unlike a syllabus, which is limited to a list of course content, it also provides the learning objectives, learning processes and the means by which the objectives are to be achieved and, of course, the type of knowledge assessment.

Curricula are guidelines for the planning and design of lessons and examinations. They define minimum standards for teaching. Evaluations document the success or failure of the individual modules. In this way, they ensure the continuous quality assurance of educational offerings and ultimately provide a binding framework in which freedom for individual teaching can be created, for example for cross-curricular or cross-year teaching. The framework for a curriculum is provided by the study regulations: changes or further developments to the curriculum are usually presented and discussed in the Study Commission in cooperation with students, teaching staff and the Office of Academic Affairs.

Cross-year curricula

As a rule, teaching in the individual academic years is separated in terms of content. Lecturers from the first year often do not know what is taught in the fourth year and vice versa. Students have already forgotten the material from the first semesters in later years because individual modules are considered complete. A close interlinking of the different subject areas in the individual years of study seems absolutely necessary.

In the sense of a learning spiral, cross-year curricula should reflect the teaching of interdisciplinary knowledge, skills and abilities in the various modules of the model degree program. This means that the topics are taken up, deepened and focused on in relation to future professional practice several times in the different modules of the academic years, each time in a new context and with increasing complexity over the course of the degree program. Inter-year teaching is a key factor in the effective implementation of practice-oriented and science-focused teaching.

National Competence-Based Learning Objectives Catalog for Medicine (NKLM)

In the future, the NKLM will play a major role in curriculum development. It describes the competencies that can be expected of a physician at the time of licensure - at a national level. With the implementation of the NKLM, curricula must be further developed and the focus placed on competencies.