[The medical dissertation. An assessment from the viewpoint of successful and unsuccessful candidates]

The actual value of medical dissertations is under current discussion. Studies concerning medical dissertation focused on successful candidates only. Therefore, data about physicians without "MD" are still lacking. PERSONS AND METHODS: We therefore performed a representative study of both, physicians with and without the "Dr. med." degree. Using an anonymous questionnaire we asked for reasons to perform a doctoral thesis.

A total of 321 questionnaires could be evaluated (successful candidates n = 181; unsuccessful candidates n = 140). Nearly 96% have attempted to perform a medical dissertation at the beginning of their studies. Only 4% never had this intention. However, 67% answered that writing a medical dissertation has no relevance in clinical practice. For 80% of the successful physicians, it was the first attempted dissertation, they judged the supervision as very good or good. Physicians who did not write a medical dissertation stated that deficits in planning and supervising were the main reason for prematurely breaking off. 90% of the successful dissertationists thought that it had been personally meaningful and recommended the procedure to younger physicians. However, two-thirds of the practicing physicians without "MD" still intend to write a thesis.

We conclude that the medical dissertation is highly rated in terms of personal and scientific value and should therefore remain a part of medical studies and science.