Corona crisis: medical students protest against "hammer exam"

In a joint statement, the Institute for Medical and Pharmaceutical Examination Questions (IMPP) and the Faculty of Medicine (MFT) recommended that the responsible ministries postpone the second state examination in medicine, the so-called M2, scheduled for the coming month to 2021. The medical journal first reported about it.

The statement goes on to say that this decision should make it possible “for students already admitted to M2 to enter the practical year (P) directly”. This is also in the interest of the students, so that their studies are not extended, “but also so that they can provide direct and orderly support in the care process in the current emergency”.

According to this recommendation, the students would have to take two exams after the practical year: the M2 and the practical exam M3, as was usual in the past. The Federal Representation of Medical Students in Germany (bvmd), however, decisively rejects this “hammer exam”.

Students demand planning security

Instead, the bvmd, which points out in a statement that numerous students have already volunteered to help in the corona crisis, demands that the M2 “be adopted in accordance with current international examples”. All in all, it is questionable “why, in addition to the anticipated psychological stresses during the COVID19 pandemic, future doctors should be subjected to the immense psychological stress of such a combined M2 and M3.”

The director of the IMPP, Jana Junger, and the President of the Medical Faculty Day, Matthias Frosch, respond to the objections raised in the statement cited above. The recommendation was made “after carefully considering a whole range of options”. The primary goal is to protect the candidates and examiners in the current situation and still enable a fair exam. Under the current circumstances, according to Junger told the Arzteblatt, it would be necessary to distribute around 4,600 students to 89 examination rooms, and 35 rooms would have to contain more than 50 people.

The responsible ministries are now to develop a solution in close coordination between the federal government, the federal states, and the state examination offices. Younger and Frog promote “solidarity”: “We know that many students, in particular, are preparing diligently for their exam. We also made this recommendation as early as possible to support the process of finding a solution. We understand the concerns and fears of the students. However, special times also require special measures to protect everyone involved. The current situation has never been there before. ”

The bvmd, on the other hand, calls on universities, competent authorities and politicians to “develop accommodating concepts as quickly as possible and to communicate concrete information immediately”. The students now needed planning security.

Meanwhile, the Vice President of the University Rectors’ Conference, Ulrich Radtke, explained that the current situation should not be a disadvantage for examinees: “Compensation for disadvantages, for example by not counting the semester towards the standard period of study or by postponing examination times, is special for all students but extremely important for students who are socially weaker or who are tied to care and upbringing. ”Radtke explicitly mentions the medical students who“ now support the clinics ”. The discussion about the consequences of the Corona crisis on German students seems to be entering a serious phase.