The University Medicine Greifswald has to face the health problems of a mostly rural structured area. To meet this challenge of providing health care for the rural population the medical faculty of Greifswald University refers to the Community Medicine (CM) approach in research and education. CM means population-based, medical research with a strong link to medical practice and daily routine health care. Analysis, intervention and evaluation in research projects in the regional population are one main topic in CM. Multiple disciplines including medicine, dentistry, epidemiology and biometry, social medicine, demography, psychology and medical informatics are essential tools for making CM work. In education, the student is trained in developing core competencies to practice CM. Teaching comprises biological, population-based and behavioral perspectives. Early patient contact, problem-based learning, self-directed learning and specific skill-training are the main learning strategies in Community-based medical education at the University Medicine Greifswald.
The Institute for Medical Psychology is part of the Greifswald Medical Faculty. It represents the bio-psycho-social approach in Medicine. In the education of medical students, the Institute is engaged in teaching bio-psycho-social aspects of medicine on a knowledge-based, attitude-based and competence-based level.
The research activities are concentrated on the field of health prevention and promotion. This includes studies in burn-out prophylaxis especially in professionals such as teachers, intensive-care and emergency personnel like paramedics and firemen. Another field of research deals with the impact of communication strategies on the health-related behaviour of patients. The questions of providing a sufficient mental health care for the population in the given region of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are one more research field of the Institute. The Institute is in charge of the psychotherapeutic consultation-liaison-service for in-patients of the university clinic.
The aim of the Institute for Medical Psychology within the multiphase, interdisciplinary Migration Health Curriculum is the development and implementation of the Behavioral and Psycho-Social Module. The core competencies on Social and Behavioral Sciences are the abilities to understand the impact of migration on the psycho-social well being of migrants, to appreciate the impact of violence and torture on refugee populations and the stress and cultural impacts of leaving and entering new cultures and environments. Further to provide culturally appropriate treatment or referral services, as required, to understand and quantify the basic principles by which cultures deal with health and disease. The module puts special emphasis on the Introduction to Psycho Social and Behavioral subjects, Psychological problems related to Travel and Migrations, Vulnerable groups, Trauma (migration as trigger for psychiatric illnesses), Culture specifics psychiatric Disorders, Torture victims, victims of organized violence, Rehabilitation of trauma victims and Health education.
Institut für Medizinische Psychologie
Walther-Rathenau-Straße 48
17475 Greifswald
