In the Patient Involvement project, people with personal experience of illness work as teachers in medical studies in tandem with medical lecturers. The concept was developed in a participatory manner by the Chair, taking into account the perspective of people who are ill themselves. A pilot phase started in the winter semester 2025 in the "Medical Communication" courses in the 1st and 3rd clinical year and will be scientifically evaluated through quantitative and qualitative accompanying research. The aim is a step-by-step expansion and sustainable implementation in the compulsory and elective curriculum of medical studies at TUM.

It is special about this format that people with experience of illness, whom we deliberately do not call patients, enter into direct exchange with students and talk to each other at eye level and beyond the clinical setting. This creates a learning space that does not focus on imparting medical knowledge, but on the subjective experience of illness. The aim is for students to learn "differently" and to be encouraged to reflect on themselves as subjects in their relationship with sick people and to learn how this can promote empathy and authentic communication. Thus, Patient Involvement is one of several components of our efforts at the Chair for promoting the professional identity development of medical students.

Contacts: Sandra Apondo, Susanne Huber