Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38918781›Full record

ArticleBMC medical education2024

Moral competency of students at a german medical school - A longitudinal survey.

Stephan Nadolny, Florian Bruns, Andre Nowak, Jan Schildmann

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC medical education, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Stephan NadolnyInstitute for History and Ethics of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112, Magdeburger Str. 8, Halle, Germany. stephan.nadolny@medizin.uni-halle.de.
Florian BrunsInstitute for History and Ethics of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112, Magdeburger Str. 8, Halle, Germany.
Andre NowakInstitute for History and Ethics of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112, Magdeburger Str. 8, Halle, Germany.
Jan SchildmannInstitute for History and Ethics of Medicine, Interdisciplinary Center for Health Sciences, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06112, Magdeburger Str. 8, Halle, Germany.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMedical students and doctors face various challenges in clinical practice. Some of these challenges are related to ethical issues. Therefore, teaching ethics respectively building moral competences has become an integral part of the medical curriculum in Germany and many other countries. To date, there is little evidence on moral competence of medical students.

methodsSelf-administered survey among medical students from one German medical school in the first (cohort 1) and fifth semester (cohort 2) in the winter term 2019/20 (T0). Both cohorts received the same questionnaire one year later in winter term 2020/21 (T1). Assessment was performed with Lind's Moral Competence Test. We performed convenience sampling. We analyzed the data with descriptive statistics and C-Scores as a measure of moral competence (higher scores = higher competence, ≥ 30 points = high competence).

resultsA total of 613 students participated in the study (response rate 67.5%, n = 288 with data on both time points). 69.6% of the participants were female, the mean age was 21.3 years. Mean C-Score for both cohorts for T0 (first and fifth semester) is 32.5 ± 18.0 and for T1 (third and seventh semester) is 30.4 ± 17.9. Overall, 6.6% (T0) and 6.7% (T1) of respondents showed some but very low moral competence. 3.3% (T0) and 3.0% (T1) showed no moral competence. Additionally, students without prior experience in the healthcare system scored 3.0 points higher.

conclusionsImprovement of assessment of moral competence as well effective interventions are particular needed for supporting those students which have been identified to demonstrate little moral competences.

Indexed as

MoralsSchools, MedicalStudents, MedicalAdultCurriculumEducation, Medical, UndergraduateEthics, MedicalFemaleGermanyHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesYoung AdultEthical competenceGermanyMedical studentsMoral competenceSurvey

Identifiers

PMID38918781
PMCPMC11201357

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.