Evaluation of the current status of Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Naturopathy education 10 years after the reform of the Medical Licensure Act – a nationwide survey of German Medical Universities

Introduction: After the reform of the German Medical Licensure Act of 2003, Rehabilitation, Naturopathy and Physical Medicine were integrated into one discipline to be taught in Medical University. The aim of this survey is to determine the outcome of this change by evaluating the current status of education of these three disciplines based on the experience and satisfaction reported by lecturers responsible for teaching these subjects to medical students. Methods: A questionnaire-based survey. A paper version of the questionnaire for each discipline was posted to each Medical University in Germany. The first part asked about the current status of teaching; the second part asked about facilities and requirements; the third part asked respondents to give information on their career and teaching experience in this subject Results: The response rate was 51.5% for Rehabilitation, 48.5% for Physical Medicine and 60.6% for Naturopathy. A vast range of people and faculties were involved in the curricula. The percentage of each discipline taught was unevenly distributed: the major proportion being rehabilitation (38%), then naturopathy 34% lastly physical medicine with less than a third (28%). The main delivery of these disciplines was through lectures in plenary sessions. Modern teaching methods were not in evidence. Lecturers were generally pleased to be working with the combination of the three disciplines. Conclusion: Future medical education should improve upon teaching coordination and aim towards a common curriculum for these three disciplines. Expected future changes to medical curricula will provide opportunities to improve the implementation of Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and Naturopathy in teaching and research.