Talent instead of Waiting Times

According to the “Stiftung für Hochschulzusalassung” (Foundation for Admission to University Studies), 41,791 candidates scrambled for only 9,458 places to study medicine for the winter semester 2019/20. To date, 20% of these places were awarded based on the average grade of the “Abitur” (school-leaving) examinationun, 20% based on the candidate’s waiting time, and the remaining 60% in the so-called university selection procedure (USP). These quotas have significantly changed due to the court ruling: “The judges required, among other things, that less importance be attached to the average Abitur grade rating in the university’s own procedure and that a subject-specific aptitude test be strengthened”, says Prof. Dr. Martina Kadmon, Head of the TMS Coordination Office at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty, who testified in court as an expert. The consequence: In the future, universities and colleges may now select 70% of their students according to various procedures, 30% of the study places will continue to be awarded to those with the best “Abitur” grades through the Foundation for Admission to University Studies.

But how do universities measure who, in their opinion, is especially suitable for this time-consuming and expensive course of study? The best known test procedure is the “Test for Medical Programs” (TMS), more popularly known as the German “Aptitude Test for Medical Students”. Every year, in the first half of May, up to 15,000 people in Germany take this test in order to increase their chances for the opportunity to study medicine by achieving good test results.

Even tests have to be tested

The TMS is currently being evaluated and standardized as part of a research project (www.projekt-stav.de) funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) – with the goal of one day being able to access a standardized test procedure at all German universities if possible. At the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg experts are carefully examining the tasks used to date, among other things: The researchers want to know which questions are especially meaningful with respect to academic success.

The scientists are proceeding as follows: After completing the genuine test for medical students, volunteers take so-called follow-up tests and declare their willingness to have their future study results become part of the project anonymously. “On this basis we can examine which tasks predict a successful course of study particularly well in the long run”, describes Tim Wittenberg, Coordinator of the Student Selection Research at the Medical Faculty, the approach taken by this research project.

Today’s research for tomorrow’s physicians

However, that is not enough: In addition to the German Aptitude Test for Medical Students (TMS), another test procedure is being prepared with funding from the State of Baden-Württemberg. A research alliance, in which not only the Medical Faculty at Heidelberg, but also the faculties of Tübingen and Freiburg are participating, devotes itself, for example, to the study of the influence of practical vocational experience on academic success.

Patients want to have doctors who are not only competent, but are also able to listen, have compassion, and explain things well. These so-called “communicative competencies” are to play a role in the selection of students at Heidelberg in the future. A team around Prof. Dr. Sabine Herpertz, Dean of Studies of the Medical Faculty at Heidelberg, is currently doing research on to what extent, for example, so-called multiple mini-interviews with the candidates can make a contribution.