Our courses

Interdisciplinary Area 2 GTE is encountered by students at various points throughout their medical studies. However, the courses described below are to be viewed as a single unit. Attendance is mandatory. The two largest courses in Module 1.1 (GTE I) and Module 6.1 (GTE II) are combined into a single assessment. The course content of the other courses is assessed as part of the respective module exams.

Course Content

GTE I in Module 1.1 “Basic Medical Skills and Fundamental Knowledge”

Students participate in four seminar sessions over a period of four weeks. Seminars are offered on various topics, such as eugenics and human genetics, the history of psychiatry, the treatment of infectious diseases, and how the social and ethical objectives of medicine and research have changed over time.

Using these topics as examples, the seminars address fundamental questions and principles of the history of medicine and health-related disciplines, as well as their implications for contemporary medical ethics.

GTE II “Medical Ethics” in Modules 2.4, 5.1, 5.3, and 6.1

Module 2.4

In this module, a brief class session covers fundamental questions and ethical aspects of research involving humans and animals, as well as good scientific practice. Students learn about the most important ethical principles of scientific work, which must be observed from the planning of a study and the recruitment of research participants through to the publication of research results. Topics include, among others, dealing with scientific misconduct (e.g., plagiarism) and submitting ethics applications. The lecture is also of particular importance for writing a medical doctoral dissertation.

Module 5.1

In Module 5.1, “The Nervous System and the Mind,” a course unit introduces the topic of patient self-determination. It covers the significance of the right to self-determination, the concepts of capacity to consent, legal capacity, and testamentary capacity, surrogate consent, and the question of the limits of self-determination. Another teaching unit, Law and Forensics II, is conducted jointly with faculty from the Department of Forensic Psychiatry. The focus is on ethical issues in forensic psychiatry, particularly regarding forensic commitment. The topic of patient self-determination is addressed and explored in greater depth in Module 6.1.

Module 5.3

This course unit addresses ethical issues in the context of modern reproductive medicine as well as the handling of intersex and transgender issues. The course is integrated into the clinical module on diseases of the reproductive organs and comprises two 90-minute lectures and a 90-minute case seminar (the case seminar is a required session), as well as approximately 120 minutes for reading assigned texts and self-study. Topics covered include ethical issues in modern gynecology, obstetrics, and reproductive medicine (e.g., IVF, abortion, the moral status of the embryo and fetus, etc.), as well as disorders/variations in sexual development (intersex) and transgender identity.

Module 6.1

In this module, the GTE course deepens students’ knowledge of medical ethics and trains them in ethical decision-making. It consists of four two-hour lectures and four corresponding case seminars, as well as in-depth self-study using online literature. In the 90-minute case seminars (with mandatory attendance), challenging ethical cases from everyday clinical practice are examined, and potential solutions are discussed. The exact schedule will be explained during the first session and via an additional agenda posted on Stud.IP. The course topics address key clinical and practical issues of current social relevance:

• Fundamentals of medical ethics: legal and ethical aspects of patient self-determination; dealing with patients with limited decision-making capacity (e.g., children)
• Transplant medicine, organ donation, organ allocation
• Withdrawal of treatment; end-of-life decisions
• Economization in healthcare; equitable distribution of scarce resources.

What Skills You Will Acquire

You will develop an awareness of the historical and societal dimensions of medical practice and gain a deeper understanding of how current issues in modern medicine are also shaped by historical and political contexts. At the same time, you will strengthen your ability to critically analyze and reflect on medical theories and practice. This required seminar lays the foundation for further engagement with the history, theory, and ethics of medicine.

➜ Course in StudIP