Obligation, capacity, skills and stamina - Development of a site-adapted competence profile for medical students in Germany

In order to get admission to study medicine at a German university, the most important criterion is the proof of an excellent final college prep school examination (Abitur) in order to get an adequate study place without time loss. For the purpose of a suitable selection for admission of candidates, however, the best qualified and suitable applicants should be found to be distributed to the limited available university places for medicine. The final examination mark alone can represent such a suitability - if at all - only to a very limited extent. In order to figure out which skills and competences characterize a potential medical student and after studies a well-practicing and resilient later physician, we sought for initial steps to apply competence profiling as a predictor matching suitable prerequisites to a subsequent successful outcome. In order to meet these demands, we founded a project called ComMedMent at the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), where we defined competences for successfully becoming a medical expert while studying the medical curriculum. Here we present a comprehensive catalogue of 16 standards and meaningful key competencies for potentially successful medical students at the FAU. In collaboration with the Center for Competence Balancing - CeKom SÜD - (Pforzheim; Germany) and a local competence team comprising institute management, lecturers and students of different educational backgrounds, a target profile for the “ideally equipped students and later successful practitioners” was established. The identification of a site-specific and/or general requirement profile for medical students could open up new perspectives for the selection process and show the opportunities for helping students along the path to becoming medical experts.