Academic Training of Medical Students in Transfusion Medicine, Hemotherapy, and Hemostasis: Results of a Questionnaire-Based Status Report in Germany

Abstract

Background: As a consequence of the German Transfusion Act and the corresponding Hemotherapeutic Guidelines of the German Medical Association, the National Advisory Committee Blood approved a recommendation (votum 29) in 2003 to specify students' training in transfusion medicine, hemotherapy, and hemostasis. The objective of this study was to assess the current status of teaching in these fields. Methods: A questionnaire-based evaluation was performed at the medical schools in Germany (n = 34). Responses were analyzed by descriptive criteria, except for weekly semester hours of teaching. Results: Responses were obtained from 30 medical faculties (88%). Among them, 18 had conducted votum 29 (12 ‘completely', 6 ‘essentially'), while 7 had done so only ‘in part' and 5 ‘not at all'. 13 of 30 sites (43%) reported that no faculty-related curriculum in transfusion medicine and hemostasis (hemotherapy) exists. At 28 of 30 medical schools (93%), teaching in transfusion medicine, hemotherapy, and hemostasis is integrated into cross-curricular topics of interdisciplinary programs, including lectures. The corresponding semester hours of teaching per week ranged from 0.5 to 12 h/week. Conclusion: Votum 29 is incompletely established. Consequently, academic teaching in transfusion medicine, hemotherapy, and hemostasis requires structural and conceptual improvement to fulfill legal specifications and regulatory constraints.