Contracting Authority: Landesamt für Soziales, Jugend und Versorgung (LSJV) (State Office for Social Affairs, Youth and Care of Rhineland-Palatinate)
Project Duration: March 2025 to October 2026
Background and Goal: The increasingly precarious situation in outpatient pediatric and adolescent medical care in rural areas in Rhineland-Palatinate is the trigger for the addition of the “Rural Pediatrician Quota” to the admission quotas for medical studies. This means that people without excellent A-level grades can be admitted to studying human medicine. Participants commit to working as a pediatrician in rural areas for ten years after completing their studies. After ZQ has already scientifically supported and evaluated the further development of the selection process for the Rural Doctor and Public Health quotas, this project follows on from this.
The goal of the project is to develop and evaluate a selection procedure that can be linked to the existing procedure for the Rural Doctor and Public Health quotas. This includes a points system made up of the average grade of the University Entrance Qualification, the “Test for Medical Studies” (TMS), relevant professional experience and/or voluntary work, as well as personal selection interviews. The focus of the scientific monitoring is primarily on the personal selection interviews, which should make it possible to select applicants who are particularly suitable for their future work. As part of the project, two selection procedures for the “Rural Pediatrician Quota” will be monitored by ZQ.
Methodological approach: The development of the instruments for the selection interviews is done by ZQ in consultation with a working group consisting of experienced doctors from professional practice. Analogous to the existing procedure for the rural doctor and public health service quota, the selection interviews should focus on the motivation of the applicants and their interpersonal skills. As part of the collaboration with the working group, the basis of the existing selection process is reviewed for its suitability to the special requirements of pediatric and adolescent medicine and further developed accordingly.
The scientific support through ZQ also includes the formal evaluation of the selection process. The evaluation looks at the procedure from three perspectives and uses the following methods: the passive observation of the selection interviews by ZQ employees, a survey of the applicants and a survey of the jury members and the working group.