Ideal Curriculum - What Do Students Expect from Undergraduate Teaching?

Background: Palliative care was introduced as a compulsory 13th cross-disciplinary subject since the amendment of the Medical licensure act (AAppO) in 2009. Previous bi-annual surveys conducted by the German Medical Students Association (bvmd) had shown a heterogeneous situation regarding the current undergraduate teaching in palliative care in Germany. Presently, the teaching is based on the syllabus of the German Association for Palliative Medicine (DGP). A needs assessment, which is a common step in curriculum development, has not been conducted with medical students so far. Methods: Mind mappings regarding palliative care education were carried out with 58 medical students at three student workshops. This was followed by a qualitative content analysis as described by Mayring. Subsequently, categories were developed focusing on content-related and methodical aspects according to the DPG syllabus. Results: The analysis showed overlapping between the DGP syllabus and our needs assessment. However, the students particularly mentioned many methodical aspects which are not yet included in the DGP syllabus. Conclusion: The results of this analysis should be considered in the next review of the curriculum to ensure a high-quality implementation of the new compulsory cross-disciplinary subject in palliative care in Germany.