Evaluation of qualification regulations for medical faculties of German universities and recommendations for standardization

Abstract

The original reason for using the German "Habilitation" degree to mean that a candidade had qualified and could conduct research and teach at a university is no longer really valid, as this is being threatened by its importance to further careers. Medical faculties must discuss how this development can be curtailed. In order to check the current situation, the Habilitation degree systems of 36 medical faculties of German universities were compared with the aid of a scoring system. They differed dramatically. Conformity existed only in the demand for a doctoral dissertation, scientific publications and a lecture on approval. Concerning other criteria for qualification there was decreasing consensus in the following order: Habilitation thesis, commitment to teaching, further professional education, participation in congresses, inaugural lecture, qualification to teach, scientific activity, broad background in the discipline, and introduction to the faculty. Application of the scoring system with a maximum of 33 score points resulted in a mean value of 15.2 points and a range from 6 to 29 points. A significant decrease in the score values occurred with increasing age of the Habilitation degree (P = 0.002). Even if scoring systems are ambiguous and unfair, our analysis revealed serious differences in the quality of the Habilitation degree. Presuming that the German Habilitation degree should be maintained as a high-level qualification, we developed proposals that might be used to standardize this academic examination.