Mentoring is considered an important means to support early career clinician scientists navigating demanding scientific and clinical career paths. Yet, conditions for successful mentoring in this dual context are not fully understood. Theoretical frameworks outline roles mentors should fulfill and stress the importance of agreements between mentors and prot & eacute;g & eacute;s. Using a mixed-methods design, we examine which roles scientific mentors perceive as relevant in this setting and compare these perceptions with established theories. Structured interviews with 11 mentors reveal strong alignment with theoretical models, although some mentors question the relevance of roles such as acting as sponsors or friends. A survey of 49 early career clinician scientists shows that prot & eacute;g & eacute;s' viewpoints broadly align with those of mentors. However, contrary to mentors' own assessments, prot & eacute;g & eacute;s identify the roles of friend and sponsor as being performed. This points to a lack of mentors' awareness of their (psychosocial) impact beyond strictly professional mentoring roles.

Career Paths Inside and Outside Academia , Seite 207 - 238

Background: When viewed internationally, Germany boasts a high rate of doctoral candidates. Fields such as medicine and life sciences have a notably high proportion of doctoral students, a trend rooted in historical factors. Despite this, comprehensive empirical studies concerning the doctoral phase and early-career researchers, especially in relation to the rise of structured doctoral programmes, have only recently gained traction.Methods: We present findings from a project investigating young scientists in medicine and life sciences. Postdoctoral graduates from these disciplines were examined both quantitatively and qualitatively within the E-Prom projects, emphasizing the primary domain of research.Results: Our analysis indicates some benefits of structured doctoral programmes over traditional individual doctorates. However, the disparities between these doctoral approaches are less pronounced than anticipated. We also identified discrepancies between the programme descriptions and their actual execution. Integration into the scientific community and research-related self-efficacy are potential indicators of publication output and inclination towards a scientific career. Physicians exhibited lower research-related self-efficacy and a lesser tendency towards a scientific career than biologists. Notably, we found gender disparities disadvantaging female graduates, with these disparities being more marked in medicine.Conclusions: There is evidence to suggest that official representations of structured doctoral programmes do not always align with their practical applications, limiting their potential effectiveness. Therefore, resources should be allocated to ensure the consistent execution of these programmes. Given the empirical evidence supporting the benefits of community integration for junior researchers, efforts should be made to facilitate their networking. Additionally, our findings emphasize the necessity of providing enhanced support for young female scientists.

In this study, we hypothesize that full professors have an important impact on their postdocs' career intentions. Using multivariate regression analysis, we found a positive association between postdocs' ratings of their professor relationship, their integration into the scientific community and their career intentions. In addition, publications as a co-author were significantly related to the intention to pursue professorship. Our results suggest that social capital but specifically the quality of postdocs' social capital is important for their career intentions: particularly the relationship with their professor, integration into the scientific community and ties to other scientists that translate into publications. Implications for career strategy on the individual level and policy implications are discussed.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Die Lehre in der Kinderheilkunde ist hinsichtlich ihrer Qualität und ihres Gelingens wesentlich von den individuellen Einstellungen der Lehrenden zur Lehre, von ihren Kenntnissen und ihrem individuellen Engagement abhängig. Nicht zuletzt mit dem Ziel einer kontinuierlichen Verbesserung der Ausbildungsqualität sollten diese Einstellungen stärker wahrgenommen und reflektiert werden. Fragestellung und Methodik Diese Arbeit untersucht das Selbstbild von Kinderärzt:innen als Lehrende an 6 deutschen Universitätskliniken, ihre Einstellung zur Lehre und ihre Erwartungen an die Lehre. Hierfür wurde ein Fragebogen zur „teacher identity“ (TI) erstmalig aus dem Amerikanischen ins Deutsche übersetzt und eingesetzt. Der Fragebogen zur TI setzt sich aus 9 Subskalen zusammen: i) globale TI, ii) intrinsische Befriedigung durch Lehre, iii) Kenntnisse und Fertigkeiten, iv) Zugehörigkeit zu einer Gruppe von Lehrenden, v) Überzeugung, dass ein Mediziner immer ein Lehrender sein muss, vi) Verantwortlichkeit für Lehre, vii) Teilen klinischer Expertise, viii) Honorierung von Lehre und ix) Wünsche an die Lehre. Ergebnisse und Diskussion 252 Kolleg:innen haben an der Befragung teilgenommen. Es zeigten sich einerseits ein hohes Maß an Identifizierung mit der Lehre, aber ebenso auch Bereiche mit gewünschtem Verbesserungspotenzial. Männer zeigten höhere TI-Werte als Frauen. Eine angestrebte oder bereits eingeschlagene universitär-klinische Laufbahn korrelierte ebenfalls mit höheren TI-Werten. Es fanden sich keine Unterschiede zwischen den teilnehmenden Kliniken. Zusätzlich belegen Daten zur Lehrleistung und zu absolvierten Fortbildungen im Bereich der Lehre ein hohes Maß an Engagement der Kinder- und Jugendärzte:innen in der studentischen Lehre.

Zusammenfassung Hintergrund Die Lehre in der Kinderheilkunde ist hinsichtlich ihrer Qualität und ihres Gelingens wesentlich von den individuellen Einstellungen der Lehrenden zur Lehre, von ihren Kenntnissen und ihrem individuellen Engagement abhängig. Nicht zuletzt mit dem Ziel einer kontinuierlichen Verbesserung der Ausbildungsqualität sollten diese Einstellungen stärker wahrgenommen und reflektiert werden. Fragestellung und Methodik Diese Arbeit untersucht das Selbstbild von Kinderärzt:innen als Lehrende an 6 deutschen Universitätskliniken, ihre Einstellung zur Lehre und ihre Erwartungen an die Lehre. Hierfür wurde ein Fragebogen zur „teacher identity“ (TI) erstmalig aus dem Amerikanischen ins Deutsche übersetzt und eingesetzt. Der Fragebogen zur TI setzt sich aus 9 Subskalen zusammen: i) globale TI, ii) intrinsische Befriedigung durch Lehre, iii) Kenntnisse und Fertigkeiten, iv) Zugehörigkeit zu einer Gruppe von Lehrenden, v) Überzeugung, dass ein Mediziner immer ein Lehrender sein muss, vi) Verantwortlichkeit für Lehre, vii) Teilen klinischer Expertise, viii) Honorierung von Lehre und ix) Wünsche an die Lehre. Ergebnisse und Diskussion 252 Kolleg:innen haben an der Befragung teilgenommen. Es zeigten sich einerseits ein hohes Maß an Identifizierung mit der Lehre, aber ebenso auch Bereiche mit gewünschtem Verbesserungspotenzial. Männer zeigten höhere TI-Werte als Frauen. Eine angestrebte oder bereits eingeschlagene universitär-klinische Laufbahn korrelierte ebenfalls mit höheren TI-Werten. Es fanden sich keine Unterschiede zwischen den teilnehmenden Kliniken. Zusätzlich belegen Daten zur Lehrleistung und zu absolvierten Fortbildungen im Bereich der Lehre ein hohes Maß an Engagement der Kinder- und Jugendärzte:innen in der studentischen Lehre.

Objective: We analyze the extent to which students of human, veterinary and dental medicine complete study-related stays abroad (frequency, type and duration of stays abroad and countries visited). Furthermore, we investigate the possible correlations between completed stays abroad and the duration of studies, the completion of a doctorate and entering professional life.Methods: The data come from a written cross-sectional survey of 742 graduates of their respective study programs at Bavarian universities. The evaluation was carried out using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results: Slightly more than half of the surveyed students completed study-associated stays abroad, with notable differences between the three study programs. The students most frequently completed internships abroad lasting an average of nine weeks. Switzerland was the most common country of destination for the stays abroad. Furthermore, there were no or only weak correlations between stays abroad, the duration of studies and progress towards a doctorate or the commencement of professional employment abroad. There were no correlations with the stress experienced as part of initial employment after graduation.Conclusion: The results clearly indicate that stays abroad are quite usual for students in the medical disciplines and are almost standard in the study of human medicine. The selection of the countries visited indicates that the primary goal of the students' stays abroad is to deepen their competence with a view to later employment in their home country.

Background The specialist examination entitles to independent professional conduct and is therefore of great significance for the quality of medical care. It should cover the contents of the continuing education regulations. So far, little is known about the actual content of the exam. In this study, the question was, which content and which structural characteristics do specialist examinations in internal medicine in Germany contain.Methods 100 randomly selected protocols from nationwide specialist examinations from the years 2013-2016 were quantitatively recorded and descriptively evaluated with regards to their main content as well as the various types of questions. The results were compared with the blueprints of the medical examinations in Switzerland and the USA.Results In each exam, an average of 27 (SD = 10) questions are asked. The questions can be categorized into three categories: (1) subject-specific questions, (2) case-related questions, and (3) diagnostic-oriented questions with visual material. Cardiology and Gastroenterology, each with 17 %, and Endocrinology with 11 % are the most frequently requested internal medical topics. For 50 % of the questions, the examinee must reproduce knowledge, while for the other 50 %, concepts and procedures must be understood and used. In comparison with the American and Swiss blueprints, a similar percentual distribution of question contents was found. With regards to the American blueprint, it is noticeable that there are more questions from other specialist areas such as Urology, Neurology and Psychiatry in comparison to Germany. The Swiss blueprint covers a wide range of interdisciplinary aspects such as ethics, prevention and economics which are not subject to examination in the German specialist examination.Conclusion In the oral specialist examination in internal medicine in Germany as many topics as in foreign specialist examinations are examined. However, the variance between the individual exams is relatively large. A standardization of the exam is important to create equal exam conditions for all candidates.

Background : In Germany, more than half of the students complete a doctorate in the life sciences and medicine. Thus the doctorate, which is supposed to pave the way for a research career, also seems to perform other functions. In medicine, there is a cliché that students earn doctorates for reasons of prestige but in the life sciences, there is an assumption that you will not succeed on the labor market without a doctorate. To date, we know little about the actual motives for earning a doctorate and its perceived meaningfulness after graduation. Methods : Motives for obtaining a doctorate from both subject groups were analyzed using data from the E-Prom study (N = 1518). For medicine, additional data from the Bavarian Graduate Study MediBAS (N = 570) were analyzed. Qualitative interview data from the E-Prom study (N = 28) were used to better understand the motives for obtaining a doctorate in their substance and to compare them with the retrospectively perceived meaningfulness. Results : In medicine, the motives of “customariness” and feared “career disadvantages” predominate. Approximately half of the medical doctoral graduates had little or no interest to do research during or after the doctorate. In the life sciences, customariness and feared career disadvantages are important motives, too. However, research (career) interest also receives high and significantly higher approval than in medicine. Moreover, female medical graduates express significantly lower research and career motives; the latter also applies to the life sciences. The qualitative analyzes indicate a close connection between career paths and justifications of meaningfulness of the doctorate in the life sciences. In medicine, justifications of meaningfulness are closely related to initial motives for obtaining a doctorate. Hence, people who only pursued a doctorate to bear a title accordingly justified their doctorate’s meaningfulness merely with its acquisition. Conclusion : Our results stress the need for greater promotion of (academic) research careers among medical students, as well as the promotion of female careers in and outside of academic research. Further investigations are necessary to understand the exact mechanisms behind our results and to develop effective interventions.

Zusammenfassung Einleitung Die Facharztprüfung berechtigt zur selbstständigen Berufsausübung und ist von besonderer Bedeutung für die Qualität der ärztlichen Versorgung. Sie soll die Inhalte der Weiterbildungsordnung abdecken. Über die tatsächlich abgefragten Inhalte der Prüfung ist wenig bekannt. In dieser Studie soll die Frage beantwortet werden, welche inhaltlichen und strukturellen Charakteristika Facharztprüfungen der Inneren Medizin in Deutschland haben. Methoden 100 Gedächtnisprotokolle von bundesweiten Facharztprüfungen aus den Jahren 2013–2016 wurden hinsichtlich ihrer inhaltlichen Schwerpunkte sowie der Fragetypen quantitativ erfasst und deskriptiv ausgewertet. Die Ergebnisse wurden mit den Blueprints der Facharztprüfungen der Schweiz sowie der USA verglichen. Ergebnisse In jeder Prüfung werden durchschnittlich 27 (SD = 10) Fragen gestellt; diese lassen sich in 3 Kategorien einordnen: (1) themenbezogene Einzelfragen, (2) fallbezogene Fragen, (3) auf diagnostische Verfahren ausgerichtete Fragen anhand von Medien. Die am häufigsten abgefragten internistischen Themenschwerpunkte sind Kardiologie, Gastroenterologie (jeweils 17 %) und Endokrinologie (11 %). Bei 50 % der Fragen musste Wissen reproduziert, bei den anderen 50 % Konzepte oder Prozeduren verstanden und angewendet werden. Beim Vergleich mit amerikanischen und schweizerischen Blueprints wurde eine ähnliche prozentuale Aufteilung der Fragen zu Themengebieten gefunden. In Bezug auf den amerikanischen Blueprint fällt auf, dass mehr Fragen aus anderen Facharztbereichen gestellt werden als in Deutschland. Beim schweizerischen Blueprint wird ein großes Spektrum an fächerübergreifenden Aspekten wie Ethik, Prävention und Wirtschaft abgefragt, die in der deutschen Facharztprüfung kein Prüfungsgegenstand sind. Diskussion In der mündlichen Facharztprüfung Innere Medizin in Deutschland werden ebenso viele Themengebiete wie in ausländischen Facharztprüfungen abgeprüft. Allerdings ist die Varianz zwischen den einzelnen Prüfungen relativ groß. Eine Standardisierung der Prüfung wäre wichtig, um gleiche Prüfungsbedingungen für alle Kandidaten zu schaffen.

Female researchers remain underrepresented in higher academic ranks, even within female-dominated fields, such as the life sciences. The phenomenon is often attributed to women’s lower publication productivity. The current article explores gender differences with respect to integration into the scientific community, pursued tasks during the Ph.D. (e.g., teaching and research), and publication productivity in the life sciences. Moreover, it explores how these variables relate to the intention of pursuing an academic research career. Survey data with recent Ph.D. graduates from the life sciences in Germany (N = 736) were analyzed through descriptive and multivariate analysis. Females had fewer publications as lead author (1.4 vs. 1.9, p = 0.05). There were no differences in pursued tasks, perceived integration into the scientific community, and co-authorship. However, Ph.D. characteristics affected females and males differently. Only male Ph.D. graduates benefited from being integrated into their scientific community by an increase in lead author publications. In contrast to male Ph.D. graduates, women’s academic career intentions were significantly affected by their integration into the scientific community and co-authorship. Results suggest that women may benefit less from their integration into the scientific community and may ascribe more importance to networks for their career progress.

Previous research suggests that self-efficacy is an important predictor for intentions to pursue a doctorate and academic career aspirations. However, an appropriate German instrument to measure research related self-efficacy is currently lacking. Therefore, the FoSWE-scale was developed as a short scale to measure science related self-efficacy economically. The quality of the scale was evaluated using survey data on doctoral graduates in the life sciences (medicine and biological sciences). Confirmatory factor analysis and correlations with objective success factors confirms the reliability and validity of the instrument. We found strong measurement invariance across several samples within the disciplines, but weak measurement invariance between the two disciplinary groups. In line with these results, the scale can be recommended for use in the context of early career scientists academic and career aspirations. However, comparisons between different disciplines require careful considerations.

Zusammenfassung. Zahlreiche Studien weisen darauf hin, dass der Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung eine entscheidende Bedeutung bei der Vorhersage einer Promotionsintention sowie der Intention, eine wissenschaftliche Karriere anzustreben, zukommt. Zur Erfassung der forschungsbezogenen Selbstwirksamkeitserwartung steht derzeit jedoch kein geeignetes Instrument zur Verfügung. Daher wurde die FoSWE-Kurzskala zur ökonomischen Erfassung der forschungsbezogenen Selbstwirksamkeit entwickelt und anhand von Umfragedaten mit Promovierten der Lebenswissenschaften (Naturwissenschaften und Medizin) überprüft. Konfirmatorische Faktorenanalysen und Korrelationen mit objektiven Erfolgskriterien der Promotion weisen auf eine insgesamt reliable und valide Skala hin. Über mehrere Kohorten innerhalb der Disziplinen zeigt sich starke Messinvarianz. Zwischen Promovierten der beiden Disziplinen besteht hingegen schwache Messinvarianz. Die Verwendung der FoSWE-Skala kann daher im Zusammenhang mit Promotions- und Karrierewegen in der akademischen Wissenschaft empfohlen werden, Vergleiche zwischen Fächern sollten jedoch vorsichtig gehandhabt werden.

Background: Not only the amount of research related contents in German medical studies are objects of criticism, but also the medical doctoral thesis. However, the question which research competences are truly acquired within medical school and the doctoral phase is empirically open, and is thus pursued in the following research study. Methods: We used data from the Bavarian Medical Graduate Panel Survey (MediBAP) (N=455), where respondents assessed their own research competences. To consolidate the data, we analysed qualitative interviews with doctoral medical graduates and students from the E-Prom study (N=14). Results: The quantitative analyses show that medical graduates evaluate the medical curriculum's research contents and their acquired competences as rather low. Doctoral graduates rate their competence of pursuing research independently higher than medical graduates who have not finished their doctorate. The qualitative analyses are in line with these results, as they point to the predominant development of competences during the doctoral phase. Despite this clearly positive trend, the majority of the respondents don't feel confident enough to undertake research independently also after attaining their doctoral degree. Conclusion: The results of this study emphasize the need for a more systematic and targeted mediation and review of research competences within the regular medical curriculum.

A lack of physician scientists as well as a high female dropout rate from academic medicine and basic life sciences is a concern in many countries. The current study analyzes academic career intentions within a sample of recent doctoral graduates from medicine and basic life sciences (N = 1109), focusing on research self-efficacy beliefs as explanatory variable of gender and disciplinary differences. To ensure that differences in research self-efficacy could not be attributed solely to objective scientific performance, we controlled for number of publications and dissertation grade. The results of multivariate analyses pointed to a strong and significant association between research self-efficacy and academic career intentions (ß = 0.49, p<0.001). The lower academic career intentions of medical doctoral graduates were no longer significant when controlling for research self-efficacy. Within the field of medicine, female doctoral graduates expressed lower research self-efficacy beliefs and academic career intentions. When controlling for research self-efficacy, the correlation between gender and academic career intention was no longer significant. In contrast, no gender differences were found within the basic life sciences with respect to neither academic career intentions nor research self-efficacy.

Data set to the article "Academic Career Intentions in the Life Sciences: Do Research Self-Efficacy Beliefs Explain Low Numbers of Aspiring Physician and Female Scientists?" (Epstein & Fischer, Plos One forthcoming).

ContextStudies have shown that patients' subjective perceptions of physicians' competence and friendliness are relevant aspects of a successful treatment, influencing patients' well-being and trust in the physician. Psychological research has repeatedly shown that unconsciously contracting muscles that are usually used to smile can intensify and even elicit positive feelings (known as facial feedback). Empirical evidence also suggests that a smiling person is favourably judged by others with respect to attractiveness and trustworthiness.AimThis study's purpose was to investigate how an induced muscle contraction, similar to that of a smile, affects physicians' interactions with a standardised patient. It was expected that the smile intervention' would affect physicians' and patients' perceptions, resulting in higher ratings of the friendliness and attractiveness of physicians in the intervention group.MethodsTwenty physicians participated in the randomised controlled study (10 male, 10 female). Physicians were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an intervention group (performing an easy cognitive task while smiling; n=11) or a control group (performing an easy cognitive task without smiling; n=9). Afterwards, physicians had a 5-minute consultation with a standardised patient. This consultation was subsequently rated by physicians, the patient and an external rater using 10-point Likert scales.ResultsPhysicians in the intervention group were rated as significantly friendlier by the external rater (mean 7.81 versus 7.11; p=0.097, (2)=0.15). In addition, physicians in the intervention group rated the patient as significantly more attractive (mean 6.91 versus 4.78; p=0.017; (2)=0.28).ConclusionsOur results suggest that physicians can influence their friendliness and their perception of patients' attractiveness. Thereby the power of pen' can be an efficient method for making the hospital a friendlier place.Discuss ideas arising from the article at discuss.