The phenomenology of attentional control: a first-person approach to contemplative science and the issue of free will.

There are two basic aspects of attentional control. The ability to toward different objects is typically experienced as a fundamental indicator of attentional freedom. One can control what one attends to and directing attention is a relatively simple task.

"Where my responsibility lies": Reflecting on medicine during the Holocaust to support personal and professional identity formation in health professions education.

Objectives: Physicians and the medical/scientific establishment during Nazism and the Holocaust committed egregious ethical violations including complicity with genocide. Critical reflection on this history serves as a powerful platform for scaffolding morally resilient professional identity formation (PIF) with striking relevance for contemporary health professions education and practice. Study aim was to explore the impact of an Auschwitz Memorial study trip within the context of a medicine during Nazism and the Holocaust curriculum on students' personal and PIF.

Fostering learning capacities for meaningful, healthy and efficient studying in undergraduate medical education: evaluation of a longitudinal learning workshop.

Background: Academic studies place high demands on the development of learning capacities. Beyond learning techniques, knowledge about the effect of the learning environment, as well as the ability for self-regulation, self-determination and self-care play a major role in the development of learning skills. A longitudinal learning workshop was developed aiming to support academic learning life.

Empathy, well-being and stressful experiences in the clinical learning environment.

Objective: This study examines whether students in the clinical phase show reduced well-being and lower empathy scores compared to preclinical students. Furthermore, it explores students' most stressful experiences.

Methods: A cross-sectional mixed-methods study was conducted among medical students of the revised patient- and student-centred curriculum at Witten/Herdecke University (Germany).

History and development of medical studies at the University of Witten/Herdecke - an example of "continuous reform".

The University of Witten/Herdecke (UW/H) was founded in 1982 as the first privately run German university. In addition to economics, dentistry, a center for life sciences and the institute for general studies, the main focus from the inception of the University was the development of a model course in medical studies. A description of the history of the development of medical studies in relation to the reasons for its founding, its founding ideals and their implementation; phases of development, transformations and influencing factors are presented in detail.

Students with an autonomous role in hospital care - patients perceptions.

Background: There have been calls to enhance clinical education by strengthening supported active participation (SAP) of medical students in patient care. This study examines perceived quality of care when final-year medical students are integrated in hospital ward teams with an autonomous relationship toward their patients.

Methods: We established three clinical education wards (CEWs) where final-year medical students were acting as "physician under supervision".

A reflective practice intervention for professional development, reduced stress and improved patient care--a qualitative developmental evaluation.

Objective: Professional capabilities, such as empathy and patient-centeredness, decline during medical education. Reflective practice is advocated for teaching these capabilities. The Clinical Reflection Training (CRT) is a reflective practice intervention using the professional dilemmas faced by medical students during clinical practice.

Active student participation may enhance patient centeredness: patients' assessments of the clinical education ward for integrative medicine.

Objectives. To examine the impact of active student participation on quality of care in an integrative inpatient setting. Methods.

Integrative medical education: educational strategies and preliminary evaluation of the Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Medicine (ICURAM).

Objectives: the development and preliminary evaluation of a new medical program aimed at educating students in patient-centered integrative care and developing appropriate educational strategies.

Methods: The Integrated Curriculum for Anthroposophic Medicine (ICURAM) was developed with modules on anthroposophic medicine integrated into the full 6 years of the regular medical curriculum. The educational strategy is the ESPRI(2)T approach, combining Exploratory learning, Supported participation, Patient-based learning, Reflective practice, Integrated learning, an Integrative approach and Team-based learning.

Physician empathy: definition, outcome-relevance and its measurement in patient care and medical education.

Objective: The present study gives a brief introduction into 1. the definition of physician empathy (PE) and 2. its influence on patients' health outcomes.

Empathy decline and its reasons: a systematic review of studies with medical students and residents.

Purpose: Empathy is a key element of patient-physician communication; it is relevant to and positively influences patients' health. The authors systematically reviewed the literature to investigate changes in trainee empathy and reasons for those changes during medical school and residency.

Method: The authors conducted a systematic search of studies concerning trainee empathy published from January 1990 to January 2010, using manual methods and the PubMed, EMBASE, and PsycINFO databases.

Thermometer of warmth in the patient-provider relationship (WARMOMETER)--theory-based development of a patient self-report measure and initial validation using cognitive interview methodology.

Objective: The aims of this study are twofold: (1) the theory-based development of a patient self-report measure of physician warmth and (2) the application of cognitive interview methodology to understand patients' perception and interpretation of this new measure.

Methods: A draft measure was developed based on an in-depth literature review of the concept of human warmth by a multidisciplinary expert group. Sixteen cognitive probing interviews were conducted to examine how patients perceive and interpret this new measure and to identify potential problems.

The impact of financial incentives on physician empathy: a study from the perspective of patients with private and statutory health insurance.

Objective: We hypothesized that patients' ratings of physician empathy (PE) would be higher among those with private health insurance (PHI, referring to financial incentive) than among patients with statutory health insurance (SHI).

Methods: A postal survey was administered to 710 cancer patients. PE was assessed using the Consultation-and-Relational-Empathy measure.

Can patient-provider interaction increase the effectiveness of medical treatment or even substitute it?--an exploration on why and how to study the specific effect of the provider.

Objective: Numerous studies demonstrate the impact of high-quality patient-provider interaction (PPI) on health outcomes. However, transformation of these findings into clinical practice is still a crucial problem. One reason might be that health communication research rarely investigated whether PPI can increase the effectiveness of medical treatment and/or even substitute it.

Can final year medical students significantly contribute to patient care? A pilot study about the perception of patients and clinical staff.

Background: Active participation of medical students in patient care has been shown to be important for professional development of learners. Not much is known about the impact of active student participation (ASP) to the quality of patient care.

Aims: We established a Clinical Education Ward (CEW) for the final year medical students caring for patients under structured clinical supervision.

Identifying and predicting subgroups of information needs among cancer patients: an initial study using latent class analysis.

Purpose: Understanding how the information needs of cancer patients (CaPts) vary is important because met information needs affect health outcomes and CaPts' satisfaction. The goals of the study were to identify subgroups of CaPts based on self-reported cancer- and treatment-related information needs and to determine whether subgroups could be predicted on the basis of selected sociodemographic, clinical and clinician-patient relationship variables.

Methods: Three hundred twenty-three CaPts participated in a survey using the "Cancer Patients Information Needs" scale, which is a new tool for measuring cancer-related information needs.