[Social medicine for general practice--initial evaluation of a practice relevant teaching concept]

The form and contents of lectures in social medicine as part of medical studies have caused controversy for some time. In the winter term of 1992/93 a new concept of main lectures in social medicine oriented to medical practice was introduced at the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. In particular, these lectures deal with primary medical topics relevant to social medicine, interspersed with case examples, visits to patients and excursions. As a means for students to express critism of the lectures offered, at the end of the summer term of 1994 an evaluation of university tuition was first carried out using an anonymous, standardised questionnaire. Fifty-five of the 179 students registered for the lecture, studying in terms 7 to 12, took part in the survey. Among the regular lecture-goers there was a high acceptance of the concept and presentation of the lecture contents in 75% of those asked. This was not found to be dependent on sex or on how far the students had progressed in their studies. Despite interest in social medicine in 80% of cases, for the vast majority of those asked the subject does not yet play any role as a future field of research or occupation. While 60% of the participants in the questionnaire accorded sociomedical topics an important rank in the study of human medicine, 35% regarded an independent chair for social medicine, against the background of over-full timetables, as unnecessary. On the other hand, the practical relevance and usefulness of what is taught was regarded by 72% as high. Despite a general lack of enthusiasm for lectures the practically-oriented approach has obviously succeeded in making clear to the students the importance of sociomedical topics in routine medical practice.