gms | German Medical Science

For Medical University of Vienna´s students in their second year basic medical skills are trained and practiced in three synergetic lines. These include basic clinical skills, history taking skills and physical examination skills. Finally, acquired skills and knowledge are assessed in a fourth line in encompassing a practical examination. The evolution of this lines started in the old medical curriculum with compulsory (practical) training in hospital hygiene, where the students were thought, e.g. how to draw blood, in due consideration of infection prevention and control principals. This form of practical training was in a marked contrast to the pure theory based academic teaching of those days. The rationale for this approach was the understanding that infection control will not only be successful based on knowledge alone, but knowledge needs to go hand in hand with practice.

The following modules have been developed: to place an urinarytract-catheter, to draw blood, to administer i.v. medication, correct handling of central venous catetherlines, to perform correct hand hygiene practices including hand washing, hand disinfection and correct use of medical and surgical gloves.

The fundamental principle is to integrate each step into overall clinical workflow for instance, hand disinfection alone maybe trained rapidly, however, the correct sequence and details may be completely different during a complex clinical procedure. Therefore, not only demonstrating how hands are disinfected, but also when they should be disinfected is of equal importance.