During his visit to the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen, Lower Saxony's Minister President Stephan Weil paid tribute to the medical training programme. He was given exclusive insights into the degree programme and modern hearing research in the NeSSy research building.
He had come to Oldenburg to make himself smarter, said the Minister President. He had brought 90 minutes with him - "with extra time if necessary", he added cheerfully. "You can assume that we still have a lot planned for medical training in Oldenburg. It is a convincing concept."
As Minister President of a rural state, medical care in rural areas is particularly close to his heart, said Weil. Conventional medical training had obviously not been able to do enough to prevent a shortage of doctors in rural areas. "So we have to come up with something. I am very curious to see whether the Oldenburg approach will help us make progress here," he added.
Prof Dr Martina Kadmon, Acting Dean of School VI, presented the extent to which the EMS's innovative medical training could help here: "From day one, our students' everyday lives are characterised by a strong practical focus. Twice a year, they spend time in general medical practices in the region, giving them a realistic insight into the challenges of the medical profession right from the start," said Kadmon.
University President Prof. Dr Dr Hans Michael Piper emphasised the already visible success of the degree programme: "The expectations for our model degree programme were very high right from the start. Today, around four years after the start, we can be certain that the EMS study concept is working, the students are enthusiastic and their performance and competences are excellent."
The Minister President also spoke to students from Oldenburg and Groningen and learnt first-hand how the next generation of doctors rate their training at the EMS. Dr Veysel Ödemis showed how virtual microscopy works and gave an insight into modern digital teaching methods in anatomy. This work is part of the "Virtual Dissecting Room" project, which is being driven forward in co-operation with the Groningen School.
The visit programme also included the newly established "Virtual Reality Lab" (VR Lab) of the "Hearing4all" cluster of excellence. This is an acoustically dampened room with numerous loudspeakers arranged around its centre. Complex hearing situations are simulated here in high resolution and visualised simultaneously on a 180-degree screen. The VR Lab is intended to help realise the goal of a smart, room-aware hearing aid.
