Comprehensive Access to Formal Training (Fort- und Weiterbildung)
Sub-Assistants are often granted access to the same structured educational resources available to fully employed Assistant Doctors (Assistenzärzte), ensuring continuous professional development beyond their immediate clinical duties.
At the University Children's Hospital Basel (UKBB), UAs have the entire further education and training program (Fort- und Weiterbildungsprogramm) for assistant doctors available for their free disposal during their internship. Similarly, the Spitäler Schaffhausen list Fortbildung (further training) as a key offering, and the Spital Emmental explicitly includes participation in further education and training as part of the UA role.
Further examples of educational access include:
- Luzerner Kantonsspital (LUKS): UAs have the opportunity to participate in numerous further training courses, including dedicated UA training, clinic training, the assistant curriculum, and mini- and half-day symposia.
- Kantonsspital Graubünden (KSGR): UAs in Internal Medicine and Surgery can take part in weekly internal further training courses.
- Claraspital: This institution highlights extensive opportunities for continuing education and training (Fort- und Weiterbildung), offering its own seminar program with a broad educational scope.
- Kantonsspital Winterthur (KSW): Regular further education events are listed as one of the benefits for medical students working there.
- Klinik Barmelweid: This clinic offers cost contributions for external scientific/medical further training upon request, including travel and catering costs. Furthermore, UAs who are scientifically interested can actively participate in ongoing studies and potentially qualify as a co-author of a publication.
Active Participation in Reports and Rounds (Rapports and Visiten)
A foundational element of a Sub-Assistant's learning is their mandatory integration into the daily clinical discussions, including patient reports and ward rounds. This participation enables intensive training in patient assessment and case presentation.
Typical activities involving institutional reports and rounds include:
- Integration and Active Participation: UAs at the University Hospital Basel (USB) are expected to be integrated and actively participate in patient reports (Rapporten) and ward rounds (Visiten). They learn to present patients both on ward rounds and at interdisciplinary conferences.
- Daily Rounds: UAs at the Spital Emmental participate in the daily ward rounds (Visite). At the Kantonsspital Graubünden (KSGR) in Paediatrics, UAs participate in clinic and X-ray reports and ward rounds (Visite) with senior doctors.
- Patient Presentation: Learning how to present patients and acquiring the ability to present cases independently in meetings and rounds are key learning objectives. For surgical roles at KSGR, UAs observe the complete process of emergency admission, triage, and therapy.
Involvement in Teaching and Clinical Procedures
Sub-Assistants are given hands-on involvement in clinical practice and training activities, preparing them for their future roles as Assistant Doctors.
Key educational and procedural activities available to UAs include:
- Bedside-Teaching: UAs at the Kinderspital Zürich participate in Bedside-Teaching focusing on specific cases, led by assistant and senior physicians.
- Clinical Skills Acquisition: UAs are expected to acquire specific skills such as anamnesis, status reporting, differential diagnosis, and planning treatment options. For Internal Medicine, this involves learning simple diagnostic and therapeutic procedures like blood sampling, injection techniques, lumbar, pleural, and ascites puncture, and catheter insertion.
- Operative Roles (Surgery): In surgical fields, UAs assist in operations and may perform minor surgical procedures under supervision. In the surgical department at KSGR, UAs typically function as the second, or sometimes first, assistant in the operating theatre.
- Educational Events: UAs participate in teachings, internal further education (Weiterbildungen), and educational events (Lehrveranstaltungen).