Background: Obtaining informed consent is a challenging task and is part of the educational objectives in the German NKLM. Teaching formats are inconsistent and time-consuming, with little emphasis on legal aspects, although they have moved into the focus of attention since the implementation of patient rights laws and play an important role in legal proceedings.
Objectives: The aim of this study was the evaluation of medical students' knowledge about the legal aspects of obtaining informed consent. A legal analysis was performed, and the patient rights laws were reviewed with reference to implications for undergraduate medical education.
Materials and methods: After the analysis of laws and jurisdiction, multiple-choice questions regarding the legal aspects of obtaining informed consent were created and placed in the Progress Test Medicine (PTM). A statistical analysis of the results of Berlin medical students was performed descriptively.
Results: The answers of 2625 (winter semester 2018/19) and 2409 (summer semester 2019) medical students in Berlin were analyzed. The rate of students who answered the questions about the procedures requiring informed consent and adequate time for consideration increased over time but did not reach comparable values to all PTM questions. Questions about required content were answered correctly by 30 to 60% of the students, regardless of their level of training; we did not see an increase along with the time of study.
Conclusion: In our study, we were able to show that medical students of all educational levels show tentativeness when it comes to the legal aspects of obtaining informed consent. Yet, the legal framework offers room for new teaching formats like "Co-Action", introduced in this paper for the first time, where students acquire informed consent while being supervised by the medical doctor in charge.
