Fostering Learning Capacities for Meaningful, Healthy and Efficient Studying in Undergraduate Medical Education - Evaluation of a Longitudinal Learning Workshop

Abstract Background:Medical studies place high demands on the development of learning capacities. Learning environment, self-regulation, self-determination and self-care play a major role in this context. Impaired health of students in particular has a negative impact on learning and subsequent professional life. Learning life can be defined as the sum of all the factors influencing the students’ entire life; this includes physical, physiological, psychological and mental dimensions of learning. This study describes and evaluates a longitudinal learning workshop for undergraduate medical students which aims to foster academic learning life with an anthropologically grounded holistic approach.Methods:Fifty evaluations by medical students underwent a qualitative analysis of open-ended questions concerning their experienced changes in their learning life. In addition, general satisfaction with the learning workshop was measured quantitatively.Results:Qualitative results revealed an impact on five core dimensions of medical students´ learning: knowledge, awareness, action, experience and regulation. Quantitative results demonstrated good overall satisfaction.Conclusions:Taking students’ physiology, body, psychology and mentality into account within a seven weeks longitudinal learning workshop, impact on the fields of knowledge, awareness, action, experience and regulation can be achieved. To support the multidimensional learning life of medical students, a holistic approach could be considered as an enhancement to foster healthy, meaningful and efficient ways of learning. Thus, this learning workshop seems to be a useful and transferable tool to support medical students’ learning.