What skills do good doctors need to have today?
New professorship aims to take the quality and innovation of teaching and training in medical studies to the next level
On November 1, 2025, Prof. Dr. med. Franziska Bäßler took up the newly established Chair of Medical Didactics, Teaching Development, and Training Research at the Faculty of Medicine at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg. Previously, the specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy worked at Heidelberg University Medical Center, where her responsibilities included leading a working group on teaching and training research. In Magdeburg, she will investigate how teaching and training in medical studies can be designed to optimally prepare future doctors for the demands of modern, digital, and patient-centered medicine.
“Today's medical profession requires much more than medical expertise,” emphasizes Prof. Bäßler. “Doctors must communicate empathetically, work together in teams, and integrate ethical principles into their everyday work. Mental resilience and self-reflection are also key competencies in our profession. All these skills not only improve the quality of treatment, but also patient satisfaction.”
One focus of her work is on the further development of practical teaching and examination formats, such as simulation training, simulated patient programs, and 360-degree evaluations. She combines traditional teaching methods with digital tools, gamification approaches, tandem teaching, and e-learning formats to make teaching more interactive and sustainable. At Heidelberg University Hospital, Prof. Bäßler coordinated, among other things, the elective track Digital Medicine, in which students learn how to use digital technologies effectively in diagnostics, therapy, and communication. “Digital media can make learning more vivid and interactive. However, they are no substitute for good teaching,” explains Bäßler. “My aim is to cleverly combine digital and traditional teaching methods so that students really understand what they have learned and can apply it confidently in everyday clinical practice.”
Photo: Prof. Franziska Bäßler, MD, assumed the newly established Chair of Medical Didactics, Teaching Development, and Educational Research at the Medical Faculty of Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg on November 1, 2025. Photographer: HAdW/Schwerdt
Her research areas include medical communication, health services research, medical education, and the further development of medical education and training. This includes topics such as communication barriers in cancer prevention, curriculum mapping, mixed-methods research, and the integration of digital medicine into teaching.
With the upcoming reform of medical licensing regulations, medical studies in Germany will become more competence-oriented. Students will be expected to apply medical knowledge in practice at an early stage and become more familiar with the demands of everyday professional life. “This will fundamentally change medical studies. It is a major challenge, but at the same time it offers students the opportunity for an even more practical and future-oriented education,” says Prof. Dr. rer. nat. Daniela Dieterich, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine. “With Professor Bäßler, we are gaining a proven expert who brings the know-how, experience, and scientific perspective to successfully shape this change at our location, for the benefit of our students and future patients.”
The new chair will take on key tasks in the further development of the Magdeburg curriculum, including the integration of modern examination and evaluation procedures, the promotion of communication skills, and the expansion of university teaching qualifications for lecturers (faculty development). Another focus will be on the medical management of the skills lab, where students train practical skills, and on integrating digital learning opportunities into the education program.
About
Prof. Dr. med. Franziska Bäßler, born in 1983, studied medicine in Freiburg, Spain, and the USA. She completed her specialist training in psychiatry and psychotherapy at the LVR Clinic in Düsseldorf. She is a trained supervisor and holds a Master of Medical Education (MME) from the University of Bern. Since 2015, she has worked at the Clinic for General Internal Medicine and Psychosomatics and later at the Clinic for General Psychiatry at Heidelberg University Hospital, where she led a working group on teaching and training research with a focus on medical communication. Since 2021, she has been a member and, since 2024, spokesperson for the Heidelberg Academy of Sciences in the WIN program. She has been a member of the German Society for Psychiatry, Psychotherapy, and Psychosomatics (DGPPN) since 2009 and of the German Society for Medical Education (GMA) since 2010. Internationally, she has been involved in the World Psychiatric Association, Medical Education Section, since 2013. In 2024, she was appointed Professor of Medical and Health Education at the Medical School Hamburg.
She has received several awards for her scientific work, including the Fellowship Award of the Japanese Society of Neurology and Psychiatry and the Early Career Psychiatrists' Fellowship Award of the Ain Shams International Congress on Psychiatry in Cairo, Egypt.
Background
To obtain a professorship at a university in Saxony-Anhalt, an appointment procedure must be carried out in accordance with §36 of the Higher Education Act of the State of Saxony-Anhalt (HSG LSA). Suitable candidates undergo an extensive procedure. An appointment committee composed of several experts evaluates candidates' achievements in research, teaching, and, for clinically relevant professorships, patient care.