MHB celebrates psychology graduates and writes history

Neuruppin, 17 October 2022

The Brandenburg Medical School (MHB) celebrated the graduation of psychology students with a ceremony in Neuruppin last Saturday. From a total of 65 students, 26 acquired a Bachelor degree, and 39 successfully completed the Master course in “Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy”. 29 of the latter were the first psychology students nationwide to pass the final exam pursuant to new licensing regulations for psychotherapists.

MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon said this graduation ceremony was a very special event, and he congratulated the graduates of the conventional Bachelor and Master courses as well as those who successfully passed the new psychotherapy exam, “the most challenging examination procedure in psychotherapy to date”.

A crucial factor in this success was the experience gained in many weeks of clinical practice which MHB students spent at various university hospitals (Universitätsklinikum Ruppin-Brandenburg, salus klinik Lindow, Immanual Klinik Rüdersdorf) in the course of their regular training.

“Highest possible significance for a healthy society”

The majority of these Master graduates will now start a full-time specialization as “psychotherapists in advanced training”. They will be in permanent salaried employment, the same as medical graduates. Prof. Simon was particularly pleased to note that some of them will spend this period in hospitals in Brandenburg and thus help to improve the provision of health care in the region.

„Brandenburg’s Minister of Science, Research and Cultural Affairs, Dr. Manja Schüle, sent a video to congratulate the Bachelor and Master graduates, and also to give her thanks. The Corona pandemic with its psycho-social repercussions, so Dr. Schüle, has underlined the importance of psychotherapeutic support and care: “You have chosen a profession of the highest possible significance for society!”

“Beacon in the psychotherapy landscape”

Prof. Johannes Lindenmeyer (clinical psychology with a focus on rehabilitative psychology) who played a major part in introducing the revised courses at the MHB underlined the significance of the successful Master graduates for the State of Brandenburg: “The small State of Brandenburg with just a few universities has taken the lead among German federal states in the implementation of revised psychotherapy regulations. All other states are going to profit from our pioneering work in coming years. The MHB will rightly be a point of reference and excellence in the field of clinical psychology, and Brandenburg will be a shining beacon in the psychotherapy landscape!”

“Simply gigantic!”

Dr. Dietmar Schröder from the East-German Psychotherapist Association OPK celebrated the fact as “simply gigantic” that his chamber will be the first in Germany to organize the pertinent qualification exams in five years and to license hospitals and outpatient clinics as training facilities: “A historical milestone!”

Background:

Entering into force in 2020, the new law on revised psychotherapy training has notably improved conditions for the qualification as a psychotherapist.

The license to practice psychotherapy is now acquired via a five-year course of studies the contents of which are defined in licensing regulations. Successful graduation from the Bachelor course and the subsequent Master course conveys the license to practice psychotherapy. What follows is a full-time specialization as a “psychotherapist in advanced training” over at least five years in permanent salaried employment.

MHB in a pioneering role: Psychotherapy studies in accordance with licensing regulations

In 2020 the MHB was the first German university to offer both the Bachelor course in psychology and the Master course in “Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy” in accordance with amended licensing regulations.

Right from its foundation, the MHB has been cooperating with three hospitals where all psychology students, supervised by qualified psychotherapists, are actively involved in therapeutic patient treatment. The schedule provides for several clinic days per week throughout semesters including the lecture-free periods, which ensures a systematic
integration of theoretical knowledge and practical training.

Close to practice

Clinical therapy work is an important element of studies from the first semester. The MHB is the only medical school in Germany to offer Clinic Days where students can acquire pertinent competences in close contact with patients and hospital staff and gain important experience for their professional future. Small learning groups, the innovative format of POL and regular, professionally supervised TRIK seminars are further teaching elements which foster practice orientation.

Internship positions guaranteed

Internship positions in clinics are increasingly hard to find for students at other medical schools and hotly fought over. MHB students have no worries in this respect because the MHB organizes trainee placements for all its students for the so called vocationally qualifying activities.

Learning about all major psychotherapy models

Psychodynamic therapy, behavioural therapy and systemic therapy are each represented at the MHB with a professorship. This facilitates the choice of a focus for advanced training.

Transition from “old Bachelor” to “new Master”

Psychology students from other universities where psychology programmes do not conform to new licensing regulations or where the number of study places and internship positions available to Master students is not sufficient may change over to the MHB and directly benefit from the advantages of the revised psychotherapy training.

Verified quality

The MHB Bachelor course “Psychology” (B.Sc.) and the Master course “Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy” (M.SC.) both conform to new licensing regulations and were evaluated and successfully accredited by AHPGS (accreditation agency) as early as January 2022.