Successful accreditation procedure for MHB

Neuruppin, 28 October 2024

The Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) has successfully completed the procedure of assessment by the Science Council. The Science Council, the Federal Government’s advisory board which evaluates the scientific performance of universities, grants institutional accreditation to the MHB for a five-year period and in addition recommends the right to confer doctoral degrees in medicine.

MHB president Prof. Hans-Uwe Simon is highly pleased with the council’s vote in appreciation of positive developments at the university and confirmation that the MHB performance in student education and research meets recognized academic standards. “It is therefore a logical step for the Science Council to recommend the right to award doctorates in medicine.” Up to now, MHB doctoral degrees were acquired through proceedings at the Faculty of Health Sciences, a joint institution of the MHB, the University of Potsdam and the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg.

The MHB underwent the institutional accreditation procedure for the first time. The Science Council’s report, published this Monday, acknowledges positive developments at the MHB and explicitly mentions practice-oriented teaching and learning formats in medicine and psychology like problem-based learning. Students address case examples of varying complexity in primarily autonomous small groups and are thus trained to repeatedly reflect and combine acquired knowledge. Another noteworthy element of the medical curriculum is the 8-week scientific internship, obligatory for medical students, which requires students to formulate their own research questions and gradually acquaints them with independent research activities.

For medical education at the MHB, the Science Council attests an appropriate standard for an institution with the right to confer doctorates, in view of the wide range of fields covered and the documented research performance. The board sees more need for action and expansion in the psychology department and recommends the appointment of further professors and measures to ensure sufficient personnel and adequate infrastructure. Key research activities at the MHB would also have to involve the psychology sector more strongly.

In contrast, research focus and performance in medicine are seen as appropriate and as justification to recommend the right to confer doctoral degrees. The Science Council was moreover impressed by the high degree of student and staff commitment in university bodies and initiatives and praised the considerable participation of students in procedures and projects of university development and quality control.

President Simon is pleased to note the professional and intensive efforts of numerous colleagues from all status groups and sections of the MHB and the university hospitals to further advance the university. Prof. Christine Holmberg, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, points to the practice-oriented and science-based curricular concepts which aim to educate physicians, psychotherapists, dentists and outcomes researchers with professional expertise and social competences: “And we want to convince them to stay in the region after graduation. We are delighted to see that the Science Council acknowledges and appreciates what the university and its clinical cooperation partners have achieved as a team. University panels are now going to extensively examine and discuss the council’s recommendations and use them for strategic advances and quality control.”

Prof. Michael Gekle from the MHB scientific advisory board which supports the university’s efforts to establish efficient research structures, sees the Science Council’s vote as a sound basis for strategic progress and an incentive to address future tasks and challenges with undiminished energy and professionalism.   

Science Minister Dr. Manja Schüle declares herself impressed with the progress achieved at the Brandenburg Medical School during the comparatively short period since its foundation, and congratulates the university on the successful accreditation as a major milestone in its history. She appreciates the contribution of the MHB to the provision of medical care and  to scientific advances in the state of Brandenburg, and she promises her backing for continued financial support from the Brandenburg government.

Further information on accreditation procedures

The State of Brandenburg had filed an application for the accreditation of the Brandenburg Medical School Theodor Fontane (MHB) on 28 November 2022.

A working group set up by the chairman of the Science Council’s accreditation committee visited MHB locations in Neuruppin and Brandenburg/Havel on 20 and 21 March 2024 and subsequently drafted a preliminary assessment report. The university and the pertinent Brandenburg authorities were given an opportunity to comment.

Based on that report, the accreditation committee prepared a detailed statement on the institutional accreditation of the MHB, including the recommendation concerning the right to confer doctoral degrees, on 12 September 2024. A delegation of the SC committee for medical schools took part in the deliberations. The Science Council passed the statement in Berlin on 25 October 2024.

The Science Council started institutional accreditations of non-state-funded universities in 2001. Procedures aim to assess whether a university’s performance in education and research meets established scientific standards.

Further information on accreditation procedures and the evaluation of the MHB by the Science Council are available from Hannah Leichsenring. You find the complete text of the statement on the institutional accreditation of the MHB here on the website of the Science Council.

Contact:
Hannah Leichsenring
Academic Assistant, President’s Office
Phone: +49 3391 39 14175
E-Mail: hannah.leichsenring@mhb-fontane.de