Can we still stop the migration of physicians from Austria? An evaluation of clinical internships by students of the Medical University of Vienna

• Published in: Wiener Klinische Wochenschrift Vol. 129; no. 1-2; pp. 65 - 69
• Main Authors: Seitz, Tamara, Turk, Bela R., Löffler-Stastka, Henriette
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Vienna Springer Vienna 01.01.2017
• Subjects: Academic Medical Centers - statistics & numerical data; Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Austria; Clinical Competence - statistics & numerical data; Educational Measurement - statistics & numerical data; Emigration and Immigration - statistics & numerical data; Endocrinology; Female; Gastroenterology; Humans; Internal Medicine; Internship and Residency - manpower; Internship and Residency - statistics & numerical data; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Original; Original Article; Pneumology/Respiratory System; Program Evaluation - statistics & numerical data; Medical students; Lack of physicians; Anamnesis; Medical University of Vienna; Medical internship
• ISSN: 0043-5325; 1613-7671
• DOI: 10.1007/s00508-016-1095-5

Summary The increasing emigration of graduates of the Medical University of Vienna presents a serious problem. This study examined students’ evaluation of clinical rotations, their self-rated performance, and where they felt the most deficits exist. Medical students answered an online questionnaire surveying the following aspects: an evaluation of their internship; supervision; integration in the team and improvement of field-specific knowledge; the qualities of taking a patient’s medical history by empathy; patient-centeredness; structure; target orientation; and the ability to integrate field-specific knowledge into anamnesis. The data collected indicate that rotations in Austria, especially in Vienna, were evaluated significantly worse than those abroad. Particularly the lack of supervision and integration in the team were criticized. These data stress a dire need for the reform of curricular structures during clinical rotation in the latter years of medical education.