Conceptualisation and Implementation of a Competency-based Mutlidisciplinary Course for Medical Students in Neurosurgery

Thomas Picht,1,2 Anna L Roethe,1 Katharina Kersting,1 Milena Burzlaff,1,3 Maxime Le Calvé,2 Robert Schenk,1,3 Denny Chakkalakal,1 Peter Vajkoczy,1 Kirsten Ostherr4 1Department of Neurosurgery, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 2Cluster of Excellence: “Matters of Activity. Image Space Material”, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 3Berlin School of Mind and Brain, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany; 4Medical Humanities Research Institute, Rice University, Houston, TX, USACorrespondence: Thomas Picht, Department of Neurosurgery, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charitéplatz 1, Berlin, 10117, Germany, Email thomas.picht@charite.deAbstract: The field of medicine is quickly evolving and becoming increasingly more multidisciplinary and technologically demanding. Medical education, however, does not yet adequately reflect these developments and new challenges, which calls for a reform in the way aspiring medical professionals are taught and prepared for the workplace. The present article presents an attempt to address this shortcoming in the form of a newly conceptualized course for medical students with a focus on the current demands and trends in modern neurosurgery. Competency-based education is introduced as a conceptual framework comprising academic and operational competence as well as life-world becoming. This framework provides a sound educational foundation for future medical professionals, equipping them with the knowledge as well as skills needed to successfully navigate the medical field in the current day and age. Three competencies are identified that are central to day-to-day medical practice, namely digitalization, multidisciplinarity, and the impact of recent developments on the changing patient-practitioner relationship. These competencies are relevant for all medical disciplines, but are demonstrated here in a neurosurgical context and visualized using a real patient’s case study. Students follow this sample patient’s way through each step of the neurosurgical workflow, from planning to performing the procedure, and can see for themselves the importance and application of the aforementioned competencies based on this real-world example. Courses such as the one presented here may prepare medical students more adequately for their future work by combining theoretical and practical skills and critical reflection, thereby providing holistic and practical insights as well as a conceptual framework for their future careers.Keywords: competency-based learning, medical education, multidisciplinarity