Structure and process of university teaching in psychiatry: a field for methods of quality assurance and evaluation

Objective: Given the exceptional workload at a university psychiatric hospital and the current emphasis on clinical medicine and science, teaching is systematically being neglected.Methods: With the help of evaluation methods involving the completion of a questionnaire, lectures and seminars held during one semester at the Department for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf were assessed separately by students and lecturers in terms of form, content, lecturers, and overall assessment.Results: Despite organizational shortcomings, the lectures and seminars were rated on average as good in all four assessment areas. Using a bivariate prediction model, it was possible to explain 46% of the variance in overall assessment. A surprisingly high concordance was found between the assessments by students and lecturers.Conclusion: Continuous and systematic evaluation of lectures and seminars ensures and improves the quality of current and future teaching methods.