Prevention and health promotion from theory to practice: The interprofessional MeMPE Summer University for students of Medicine, Master of Public Health and Epidemiology

Objective: During the 2015 summer semester of Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) medical school, the pilot project “MeMPE Summer University – An Interprofessional Seminar on Prevention and Health Promotion” was implemented as a compulsory elective subject. In 90 teaching units of 45 minutes each, 20 students from the degree programs of Medicine, Master of Public Health and Master of Science Epidemiology (MeMPE) completed modules in theoretical introduction, scientific project work as well as practical assignments and conference attendance. Methods: The project was evaluated by students using pre- and post-project questionnaires (26 and 57 items, evaluated on a Five-level Likert scale of 1=“fully agree” to 5=“fully disagree”). The evaluation interviews of the instruction participants were recorded, transcribed and analyzed according to Mayring’s qualitative content analysis. Results: Questionnaire response rate was 100 %. In pre/post comparison, the students reported an improvement in factual knowledge (pre median=3.0; post median=2.0; p<0.0001), in scientific work (pre median=3.0; post median=1.0; p<0.0001) and in interprofessional work (pre median=2.0; post median=1.0; p=0.024). In 18 interviews, the instructors largely expressed their motivation to participate in the project again. Conclusion: The MeMPE Summer University can serve as an example of best practice for interprofessional communication of prevention and health-promotion topics in theory and practice. The evaluation results show that the project enjoyed a high level of acceptance among students and instructors, and that it should be conducted in a revised version again in 2016.