Support and faculty mentoring programmes for medical students in Germany, Switzerland and Austria

Objectives To study what is being done at German-speaking universities rega rding the counselling and tutoring of students, we carried out a survey amo ng the deans of medical faculties in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our main concern was if any such projects were already available to the medical student or whether efforts to this purpose were under way. Design We focused in particular on faculty mentoring programmes, a continuo us tutoring by designated members of the faculty on a person-to-person basi s. Setting German, Austrian and Swiss medical faculties. Subjects Medical faculty deans. Results The return rate was 80%. While general student counselling is, if r equired, available at nearly all of the faculties, faculty mentoring progra mmes are offered by only 36.1% of the medical schools, and individualized c areer counselling by 30.6%. Conclusions Compared to other countries, such as the United Kingdom or the United States, counselling and tutoring programmes, e.g. career planning or faculty mentoring, are not generally available to the German medical stude nt. Regional differences are evident, which can be attributed to difference s in the universities' legal and financial situation. The medical faculties at German-speaking universities should make it their priority to offer the se services to the student on a permanent basis.