They have passed the most comprehensive examination of their degree programme: the first five students of the European Medical School Oldenburg-Groningen (EMS), founded in 2012, have passed the Second State Examination.
They are now starting their practical year - the final part of their medical training. Particularly pleasing: the Oldenburg participants answered an average of almost 80 per cent of the more than 300 examination questions correctly. This puts the School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Oldenburg in fifth place in a nationwide comparison of all participants from all medical schools, according to figures from the Institute for Medical and Pharmaceutical Examination Questions, which is the central institution for the Federal States that conducts the State Examination. A total of 5,984 students from 37 medical schools took the exam in the autumn round.
"This naturally fills our still young School with joy: the first students to pass the Second State Examination - and even above average in a nationwide comparison. Our model degree programme in human medicine can undoubtedly compete with traditional medical training," says the acting Dean of School VI, Prof. Dr Hans Gerd Nothwang.
40 students per year
Every winter semester, 40 students begin their medical studies at the University of Oldenburg. The five prospective second State Examination graduates - three women and two men - are part of the first cohort that started in the 2012/13 winter semester. At the time, four of them were able to "improve" their A-level grades in the university's own selection procedure (AdH) by completing vocational training - a special feature of the Oldenburg model degree programme, which not only looks at students' A-level results when selecting them, but also takes previous medical experience into account. This often pays off in a degree programme that is characterised by a high degree of practical relevance: the prospective doctors gain experience in GP practices and outpatient medical facilities from the very first semester.
Next spring, more students from the first cohort will take the most comprehensive and difficult examination of the entire medical degree programme, the Second State Examination. Many of them are currently writing their major research thesis in Oldenburg or Groningen - another feature of the Oldenburg medical training programme, which places great emphasis on scientific work.
