Der Chirurg; Zeitschrift für alle Gebiete der operativen Medizen
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To evaluate the status of perioperative pain management we mailed a anonymous postal survey to all 2,254 surgical departments in Germany. We received answers from 1,000 clinics (44.4%) which were representative related to their regional distribution. We asked the responsible surgeons to report their organizational structure and responsibilities for treating pain patients, the significance of the problem, their methods of measuring pain, and the usage of different analgesic drugs and methods. ⋯ Most surgeons relieve pain solely with systemic drugs. Regional analgesia was used by 18% only 51% of the surgeons decide on the choice and dosage of analgesic therapy on the ward; 33% admit that pain therapy often starts after complaints of the patient. 70% of all surgeons never participated in a congress on pain. We conclude that postoperative pain management in most German surgical departments still lacks effectiveness, adequacy, and organizational and scientific background.
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The original reason for using the German "Habilitation" degree to mean that a candidade had qualified and could conduct research and teach at a university is no longer really valid, as this is being threatened by its importance to further careers. Medical faculties must discuss how this development can be curtailed. In order to check the current situation, the Habilitation degree systems of 36 medical faculties of German universities were compared with the aid of a scoring system. ⋯ A significant decrease in the score values occurred with increasing age of the Habilitation degree (P = 0.002). Even if scoring systems are ambiguous and unfair, our analysis revealed serious differences in the quality of the Habilitation degree. Presuming that the German Habilitation degree should be maintained as a high-level qualification, we developed proposals that might be used to standardize this academic examination.