Hospital.Help

Bonn The medical faculties are viewing the current political developments with confidence, but also with skepticism. In addition to dynamism and progress, such as in digital legislation, there is stagnation and excessive regulation elsewhere, said the President of the Medical Faculty Day (MFT), Matthias Frosch, today at the opening of the 85th Ordinary Medical Faculty Day (oMFT), which is taking place in Bonn until tomorrow.

The medical faculties are particularly concerned about the shift to the right in society that has become clearly visible in the recent elections. If this shift to the right poses a permanent threat to the freedom of research and teaching or the principles of a pluralistic scientific system, science must defend itself with all its means, stressed Frosch, himself Dean of the Medical Faculty of the University of Würzburg. The most powerful tool of science is still freedom of opinion, especially at universities and faculties. This must be defended!

Other participants in the oMFT expressed similar views. University medicine knows where it stands, said the first chairman of the Association of University Hospitals in Germany (VUD), Jens Scholz. Solidarity is the key word. Otmar D. Wiestler, President of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers, also appealed to scientists not to boycott Israeli colleagues in medicine and other scientific fields. That must not happen, he warned, referring to previously reported incidents of this kind. We must fight against this together.

Otherwise, the past year was a good year for medical research, said MFT President Frosch. Since the last annual meeting of the faculties, a lot has changed politically: He gave a positive assessment of the legislative package consisting of the Digital Act, the Health Data Use Act and the Medical Research Act. It offers good prospects and could strengthen Germany as a location for science and health in international competition. However, it must be possible to design these laws in an unbureaucratic manner and with data protection geared towards enabling, even within the framework of the European Health Data Space.

Elsewhere, new bureaucratic regulations are already threatening to hinder medical progress to the point of restricting the freedom of research and teaching, complained Frosch, referring explicitly to the animal protection legislation that is currently being amended. Animal experimentation research, which already has an unclear approval process, is being made even more difficult by the threat of penalties. Laws and authorities must enable research, not prevent it, said the doctor and scientist. The proposed new regulation of the Animal Protection Act does not take this into account sufficiently and needs to be improved across departments.

According to university medicine, the amendment brings scientists to the brink of criminality due to vague definitions. All scientific organizations and associations need to make a joint effort to counteract this and point out the consequences for Germany as a strong and competitive research and business location, said Frosch. Scientists are aware of their ethical responsibility and can fulfill it without regulations that restrict research.

The faculties fear legal overregulation not only in relation to research, but also in relation to teaching. Even leanly formulated framework conditions of a licensing regulation could produce excellently trained medical graduates, said the MFT president, referring to the current 270-page draft of the licensing regulation. In principle, however, this is urgently needed in order to be able to manage medical care in the future. What we certainly do not need, however, is stagnation in this important reform process and years of uncertainty as to whether and when the federal and state governments will be able to agree on financing and ultimately on the adoption of the new licensing regulation, emphasized Frosch.

In fact, the reform of medical studies has been dragging on for years because the federal and state governments cannot agree on funding. The draft bill for a new medical licensing regulation, which has since been revised several times, is based on the Master Plan for Medical Studies 2020 and is welcomed by both students and faculties. However, the adoption of the draft law by the Cabinet and Bundestag has not yet been rescheduled, after several dates have already been postponed.

The medical faculties therefore appealed again to politicians at the oMFT in Bonn to end this standstill and to make a decision, in whatever direction in the end. We have been stepping on the accelerator with the handbrake on for over a year, said Frosch. The faculties know what needs to be done for a modern medical degree program geared to the future challenges of the health care system. If necessary, they could also implement the necessary steps on their own responsibility under the framework of the currently valid licensing regulations as best they can. But we need clarity. Substitute discussions and demands for additional medical degree places that distract from the issue of training quality are of no use, said the MFT president.

Close collaboration between faculties and university hospitals

Frosch once again emphasized the close cooperation that has now developed between the medical faculties and the university hospitals. This can always be felt when research, teaching and patient care work together and the common interests of the medical faculties and the university hospitals have to be represented to politics and society. VUD Chairman Scholz confirmed this. The existing close cooperation is necessary in order to ensure the cooperation between patient care, research and teaching in the future.

Scholz also welcomed the cabinet decision on hospital reform to the participants of the 85th Ordinary Medical Faculty Day. This is an important milestone on the part of the federal government on the way to structural change in the hospital landscape and to improving the quality of patient treatment. It is right that the importance of university medicine is taken into account, he said. We have fought for this for a long time. Now, for the first time, the coordinating role of university medicine is being described to ensure good care. The university hospitals are ready to take on the challenges ahead. He is convinced that only cooperation in regional networks will ensure health care in the future.

Cooperation is also essential in biomedical research

Helmholtz President Wiestler sees cooperation in the field of biomedical research as essential. We are facing a turning point in biomedicine, he said today. This brings with it opportunities, but also challenges, as well as enormous international competition. We will only be able to survive here by working together consistently, he stressed.

According to Wiesler, the starting position is favorable. We are well positioned in Germany, including in terms of the health industry, he said. Now we must move together into a phase with completely new challenges. He defined the three major challenges as firstly the translation of scientific results into medical care. Secondly, it is important to strengthen preventive medicine, which will play a greater role in the future. The third challenge is digital transformation, which he believes is the most important.

The decisive factor in the competition will be the close cooperation between the players everywhere, he predicted. Efficient strategic alliances between university medicine, non-university research institutions, funding bodies, business, politics and society are required. Some research topics can only be mastered if all those involved come together in one place, he stressed, referring to the German Centers for Health Research, for example. We need such regional top clusters with critical mass, said Wiestler. © ER/aerzteblatt.de