How stressful was the COVID-19 vaccination procedure? Comparison between mass vaccination centers and general practices.

Negative past experiences with vaccines or unfamiliar environments can be sources of stress during the COVID-19 vaccination procedure. We examined whether the perceived stressfulness of the vaccination procedure differ between mass vaccination centers and general practitioner (GP) practices. A survey was distributed (07/2021-10/2021) among newly vaccinated individuals in ten GP practices (n = 364) and two vaccine centers (n = 474).

Comparison of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Skepticism, Reasons, and Concerns Between Mass Vaccination Centers and General Practices in Germany 2021.

Introduction: The reluctance to be vaccinated against COVID-19 has significantly curbed vaccine uptake. Unlike mass vaccination centers, general practitioners (GPs) might be able to address some of the patients' concerns through their long-term doctor-patient relationship. This study compared vaccination reasons, concerns and skepticism about vaccination, and perceived importance of the vaccine and its hypothetical value between vaccination centers and GP practices.

When and why do medical students drop out of extracurricular longitudinal general practice tracks? A cross-sectional study from two German medical faculties.

Objectives: To explore when and why undergraduate medical students drop out of longitudinal extracurricular general practice (GP) tracks and to describe their future career plans.

Design: Cross-sectional online survey and descriptive analysis of routine data.

Setting: GP tracks at two German medical faculties, data collection took place between September 2020 and April 2021.

Long-term mentoring relationships in undergraduate longitudinal general practice tracks - a qualitative study on the perspective of students and general practitioners.

Background: Longitudinal general practice tracks have been established in medical faculties in Europe and worldwide to attract more graduates to general practice careers. In many programs, long-term mentoring relationships play an important role in providing students with positive role models, regular practical experiences, and acquisition of clinical skills in a community context. However, little is known about students' and general practitioner mentors' expectations, experiences, challenges, and ideas for improvement within these long-term mentoring relationships in general practice in our medical education system.

Understanding older patients' willingness to have medications deprescribed in primary care: a protocol for a cross-sectional survey study in nine European countries.

Introduction: To reduce inappropriate polypharmacy, deprescribing should be part of patients' regular care. Yet deprescribing is difficult to implement, as shown in several studies. Understanding patients' attitudes towards deprescribing at the individual and country level may reveal effective ways to involve older adults in decisions about medications and help to implement deprescribing in primary care settings.

Walking a mile in Grandma's shoes - medical students' evaluation of a very simple online aging game to enhance their understanding of older patients.

Background: Aging simulation games are established educational interventions to make older patients' perspectives noticeable, raise awareness about their needs, and positively influence attitudes toward older adults. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions imposed on education, we replaced a classroom-based aging simulation course with a simple online equivalent. This consisted of short introductory screencasts, four downloadable Portable Document Format (PDF) files containing issue-specific audio and video links, quizzes, case studies, and prompts for reflection.

Differences in Demographics of Vaccinees, Access to, and Satisfaction with SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Procedures between German General Practices and Mass Vaccination Centers.

In the European Union, SARS-CoV-2 vaccines became available in December 2020. The vaccination campaign in Germany was initially implemented through mass vaccination centers and later joined by general practitioners (GPs) in spring 2021. This study compared population characteristics, perceived access barriers, and satisfaction with the vaccination procedure between vaccination centers and GP practices.

Workshop with medical students on physicians' earning opportunities, workload and job satisfaction increases the attractiveness of working self-employed and working in general practice.

Background: Among the various factors identified as relevant for primary care career choice, financial considerations have been consistently shown to have an impact. In Germany, reliable and easily understandable information on physicians' earning opportunities in self-employed settings is difficult to obtain for medical students, leading to substantial misperceptions that may negatively affect respective career considerations. This study investigated medical students' evaluation of a 45-min evidence-based workshop on earning opportunities, workload and job satisfaction in different specialties and settings to examine its effect on the perceived attractiveness of working self-employed and working in general practice.

Medical students' adoption and evaluation of a completely digital general practice clerkship - cross-sectional survey and cohort comparison with face-to-face teaching.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the University of Leipzig completely switched to online teaching. Thus, we developed a practice-oriented digital substitute for a two-week mandatory general practice (GP) clerkship. Main components were processing of clinical cases and additional GP topics, visual diagnoses, information and examination videos, and regular remote exchanges with associated GP teachers.

Osteopathy in Germany: attitudes, beliefs and handling among general practitioners - results of a nationwide cross-sectional questionnaire survey.

Background: Osteopathy is a type of complementary medicine based on specific manual techniques. In many countries, including Germany, the profession is not officially regulated, and evidence for the effectiveness of osteopathy is insufficient for most diseases. Nevertheless, many health insurances in Germany offer reimbursement for therapy costs, if osteopathy is recommended by a physician.

Misclassification of Self-Reported Body Mass Index Categories.

Background: Overweight and obesity are an increasingly serious public health problem in Western societies, including Germany. The tendency of overweight and obese people not to classify themselves as such limits the efficacy of information on the health risks of these conditions and lessens the motivation to change behavior accordingly. In this article, we summarize the available study data on the selfperception of weight class.

Medical students' perspectives on earning opportunities of self-employed physicians - realistic and relevant for the process of career choice?

Background: Several studies report a substantial impact of financial considerations on the process of specialty choice and the willingness to establish one's own practice. In Germany, reliable information on self-employed physicians' earning opportunities is basically available, but not easily accessible and understandable for medical students. Misperceptions might contribute to recruitment problems in some fields, particularly in general practice.

LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study.

Objectives: This study investigates students' adoption of LeiKA, a new extracurricular longitudinal general practice (GP) teaching project. LeiKA aims to attract a broad range of students, not only those who are already planning to become GPs. This study compares participants' and non-participants' characteristics, career preferences and job-related value orientations to assess the programme's initial potential to increase the number of students subsequently entering GP careers.

STEP as a Useful Tool to Screen for Diabetes-Specific Health-Related Problems in Community-Based Geriatric Patients- An Exploratory Secondary Analysis of Cross-Sectional Data.

Background And Aims: Comprehensive geriatric assessments are established tools for the identification of health problems in the elderly. So far, little is known about tailoring and targeting to facilitate their application. As a starting point for a tailored assessment of patients with diabetes, a highly prevalent health condition, we aimed to assess if the Standardized Assessment of Elderly People (STEP) is able to identify relevant differences in self-reported health problems between diabetic and non-diabetic patients.

Willingness, concerns, incentives and acceptable remuneration regarding an involvement in teaching undergraduates - a cross-sectional questionnaire survey among German GPs.

Background: Worldwide, many undergraduate general practice curricula include community-based courses at general practitioners' (GPs') offices. Usually the academic general practice departments collaborate with networks of affiliated teaching practices. To successfully master the challenge of network development and extension, more information is needed about GPs' willingness to be involved in different teaching formats, important influencing factors, incentives, barriers, and the need for financial compensation.