Questionnaire A standardized questionnaire with 70 items was sent via mail to all AZD1152-HQPA research buy medical faculties in Germany (n = 38), addressed to the representative of the local emergency medical care curriculum.

The questionnaire was accompanied by a cover letter from the committee that contained information about the intention of the survey as well as a reference to a website with additional information. The representatives were asked to answer the questions in the different areas by using checkboxes and open answer areas. To submit the data, each school had the choice of returning the filled out questionnaire in an enclosed self-addressed, stamped envelope, sending it via fax or returning the pdf-version Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the questionnaire by Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical e-mail (see Additional file 1). Data Analysis Data are presented as mean ± SD where necessary. For analysis, statistical software SPSS 14.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL.) was used. Results General data Overall data from 35 out of 38 of the existing medical schools in Germany were considered in the final analysis. With the exception of three (9%) of these medical schools, the local Department of Anaesthesiology is responsible for the organization of the interdisciplinary courses in emergency medical care. The course content with respect to cardiopulmonary resuscitation was predominantly (94%; n = 33) directed to the guidelines Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the European Resuscitation Council (ERC)

2005 [4]. Curriculum structure At 49% (n = 17) of the locations,

courses are organized in a longitudinal format with a minimum of two parts within the six year Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical lasting required medical school curriculum; three faculties use a threefold concept spread over the whole curriculum. The other medical schools provide a single course lasting between one to two weeks full time. These courses were mainly scheduled in the third (31%; n = 11) or fourth year (40%; n = 14). The composition of the participating disciplines varies a lot from location to location; the frequency of the participating disciplines is displayed in figure ​figure1,1, whereas a minimum of two and a maximum of Cell press 14 disciplines Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (mean 7) are providing course components. Figure 1 Participating disciplines. A listing of the participating disciplines; multiple responses were possible. Teaching methods Lectures and practical training units are scheduled in varying composition at more than 95% (n = 34) of the locations. Regarding content, the practical sessions are focused on measures of basic life support (in the early years of study in longitudinal curricula) and advanced life support, including airway management, basics of ECG interpretation and pharmacology at nearly all medical schools (97%; n = 34). Pre-hospital or clinical trauma life support comparable to the Pre-hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS) or Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) concepts is fixed in 26% (n = 9) of the curricula.