„Klinische Epidemiologie“: Ein Lehrbuchklassiker und seine Eignung für den Einsatz in einem sich wandelndem Medizinstudium

Knowledge of clinical-epidemiological methods is indispensable for scientifically informed clinical decisions and understanding clinical research. These skills gain particular relevance in a medical curriculum committed to science and scientific evidence, as reflected in the German national competence-based catalog of learning objectives for medicine (NKLM). It is expected that knowledge of clinical-epidemiological methods will also be part of the new licensing regulations and national subject catalogs (GK) for the state examinations (STEX) in Germany. Clinical epidemiology content is, however, not explicitly marked in these catalogs. Furthermore, teaching goals related to epidemiology and related subjects are distributed over all phases of the curriculum and several topic areas. Consequently, teaching in the new curriculum poses particular challenges even for experienced instructors.The German translation of the book “Clinical Epidemiology: The Essentials“ by Fletcher et al. follows the priorities set for the new curriculum. Besides a scientific approach to medicine, this concerns consideration of the requirements of everyday medical practice (graduate profile). The book is, however, not recommended explicitly for medical students.This review critically examines the book’s suitability for the various requirements of the medical curriculum. Epidemiology-related questions from a recent exam, the new subject catalog for STEX II valid from 2022, and relevant chapters of the NKLM are described to contrast book content with curricular requirements.