Profile

The Partners

Academic partners are the University of Bonn, the University of Siegen and the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam (EMC). Clinical partners are the four hospitals in Siegen: the Diakonie-Klinikum Jung-Stilling, the DRK-Children's Hospital Siegen, the Kreisklinikum Siegen, and the Mariengesellschaft with the St. Marien-Hospital Siegen. The School of Life Sciences of the University of Siegen and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bonn together provide the organizational basis for the study programs at the Siegen location - for both medical and medical-related services.

The Pilot Project

An important part of "Rethinking Medicine" is the pilot project. It is to verify, in the Reallabor Südwestfalen, the effectiveness of helping medical care succeed in a rural region with diminishing populaton: by using medicine supported by digital technology - and by doctors and medical professionals who employ high empathy when working for the patient. One of the hallmarks of the pilot project is the equality of the technological and the social aspects of digitized medicine. The School of Life Sciences (LWF) of the University of Siegen organizes an open innovation platform for the pilot project, where the sub-projects are carried out in a coordinated manner. The medical care of the future is to be supported digitally and set up with mobile elements. An option for a subproject could be mobile supply vehicles that are equipped with state-of-the-art technology and have competent medical staff. The medical team is supported by a qualified medical assistant and mobile, digitally trained nurses. Thanks to digital and mobile technology, doctors can extend their range of action and work in different places. Meanwhile, medical assistance, as the point of contact for patients, ensures continuous personal care and reliable feedback to the central medical expert team. The concept ensures that a doctor is always on site - either in person or through modern media technology. The mobile ambulances operate from their own servers and in secure networks, connected to a medical care center under the responsibility of the Siegen Clinic Association, which is setting up this center specifically for the pilot project and in accordance with the requirements of a digital doctor's office. Currently the model is still in the planning stage. Furthermore, the necessary network is being built in the region.

The Teaching

One focus of the Siegen model is the training of prospective physicians. The Universities of Bonn and Siegen offer 25 students per year the opportunity to complete their studies of human medicine at the two locations from 1st October 2018 on during the winter semester each year. In technical and organizational terms, the University of Bonn is responsible for the first six semesters. For the study of the clinical phase from the 7th semester on, the University Hospital of Bonn is responsible together with a cooperative network, comprised of the University of Siegen and the four hospitals of Siegen.

The study focus is on the medical care for rural areas by means of digitalized medicine. Accompanying clinical training in human medicine, the Faculty of Life Sciences (LWF) at Siegen University organizes European Bachelor's and Master's degree programs in the field of digital medicine, such as medical informatics, public health or biomedical technology. The new digital medicine in Siegen is closely aligned with corresponding courses offered by the Erasmus Medical Center Rotterdam (EMC). In this way, students have the opportunity - in the spirit of Erasmus's European mobility concept - to explore in the future the exciting field of digital medicine via the exchange between Siegen and Rotterdam. From July to October 2018, the first medical students from Rotterdam have already completed part of their clinical studies in the fields of paediatrics and gynecology / obstetrics in Siegen. Other Dutch students will continue to follow.

The Health Policy Framework

The 'Master Plan for Medical Studies 2020' is the higher reference frame for "Rethinking Medicine". The master plan is based on demographic change, formulates new quality standards for patient care, wants to bring more doctors to the country and give general medicine a new status. The Siegen model "Rethinking Medicine" provides a vision for realizing the goals of the master plan - tailor-made for the health region South Westphalia, which is exemplary for many other regions in Germany and therefore can have a model-building character.