Biomedical subjects

W Georg

Publications and source records attributed to W Georg.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2007

[Experience with new teaching methods and testing in psychiatric training].

In 1999, the Charité Medical University in Berlin, Germany, implemented a reformed medical study course (RMSC) along with traditional undergraduate medical education. The RMSC is characterized by problem-based learning (PBL), training in communication skills with "simulated patients", and interdisciplinary seminars. The curriculum is organized into blocks according to organ system and age (period od life). In a new intensive 4-week psychiatric block, 4th-year students get practical experience in psychiatric wards. Furthermore, PBL groups and workshops are offered that focus on frequent psychiatric disorders. By providing interactive courses with simulated patients, students are intensively trained in taking psychiatric histories and in generating psychopathological findings. Defined learning objectives are tested using multiple-choice items and objectively structured clinical examinations at semester end. First positive results indicate that this course represents an appropriate and practicable curriculum for teaching psychiatry in Germany.

Education, Medical↗

PubMed1999

[Problem-based learning (POL) in environmental medicine].

"Environmental medicine" is a new sub-discipline in the spectrum of medical specialization in Germany. The Berlin Academy of Occupational Medicine and Health Protection, now a branch of the Berlin Chamber of Physicians, developed a 200-lesson curriculum for physicians who want to specialize in this field. Coincidentally during the initial courses, the attendants were already highly qualified ("Facharzt"-level) and experts in various occupational fields, and hence the composition of the classes was highly heterogeneous on the levels of practical experience as well as theoretical knowledge. The Academy therefore decided to change the teaching method to Problem-Oriented Learning (POL). This required training tutors for small learning groups, supervision for these tutors and supplying adequate teaching materials and a stimulating environment for the student. The "Arbeitsgruppe Reformstudiengang Medizin" (Medicine Curriculum Reform Project) at the Berlin Humboldt University as well as the Dutch Rijksuniversiteit Limburg in Maastricht helped in the process of conceptualization. Participants worked in groups of up to 8 persons under non-directive tutors. A new "case" was presented every day, and the students developed individual learning goals according to the Seven Steps-method, which were then researched individually and with the help of outside experts. The findings were reported back and discussed in the group. Initially there was irritation, but after two or three days participants got used to not being lectured. Instead of being passive recipients of expert knowledge they felt that the POL method of learning enhanced their competence to act independently.

Curriculum↗

PubMed1991

Psychosocial and biobehavioral characteristics of hypertensive men with elevated atherogenic lipids.

Epidemiologic studies demonstrated an excess risk of ischemic heart disease (IHD) among individuals who simultaneously exhibit hypertension and elevated atherogenic lipids (coronary high risk (CHR)-status). Yet, relatively little is known about factors which contribute to the development of CHR-status during early and middle adulthood. The present study explores the role of selected biobehavioral and psychosocial factors in explaining CHR-status using data from a prospective 6.5 years investigation of a cohort of 416 middle-aged (40.8 +/- 9.6 years) male blue-collar workers. Multivariate logistic regression analysis shows that overweight (odds ratio (o.r.) 4.14), smoking (o.r. 2.19), low promotion prospects at work (o.r. 2.71), competitiveness at work (o.r. 2.79) and feelings of sustained anger (o.r. 5.41) independently contribute to the explanation of CHR-status. Furthermore, the operational definition of CHR-status is validated by estimating its power in predicting IHD incidence in the study cohort. In conclusion, co-manifestation of hypertension and elevated lipids is more likely to exist among those blue-collar men who exhibit distinct work-related characteristics in addition to established biobehavioral risks such as overweight and smoking. In view of the high prevalence of CHR-status and of IHD among men in the lower socio-economic strata this finding is also of interest for health policy.

Adult↗

PubMed1990

[Psychosocial factors of preserving health? Prospective studies of breast cancer, bronchial cancer and fibrocystic mastopathy].

Do psychosocial factors affect the development of health? 156 patients were interviewed and tested before a breast biopsy or before the initial medical treatment of lung cancer. Multiple regressions examined the influence of age, diagnosis (tumor stage) and different psychosocial parameters as dependent variables the development of health after 2 or 5 years as independent variables. The breastbiopsy-group (n = 52) shows five psychological variables being effective in a positive (health promoting) manner: autonomy, emotional outlet, expression of one's needs, family support, lack of life stress. In lung cancer (n = 104) the development of health 2 years after diagnosis is only influenced by the type of tumor (small cell versus non small cell) and by the initial tumor stage. A structuralequation model (LISREL) shows for the first 3 months of illness that almost exclusively biological variables have an influence on psychological variables. Despite this family dynamics had a moderate effect on the patient's general wellbeing (Karnoffsky-Index).

Adult↗