Long-term care for people with chronic diseases takes place primarily in GP practices. Ideally, long-term primary care is provided by an interprofessional team at eye level with the patient. GPs coordinate the care provided by other practitioners, e.g. specialists and therapeutic professions. A central aspect is an orientation towards therapy goals agreed upon together with the patients.

In medical studies, long-term care by general practitioners is addressed in particular in the courses in module 38 and in nursing studies in module 13

The Institute of General Practice is involved in the guideline work of the German College of General Practitioners and Family Physicians (DEGAM) and regularly updates the guideline on acute and chronic cough in adults. The use of guidelines in everyday practice and in relation to individual patients is therefore addressed in many courses.

Health care is more effective in a team. Cooperation with other professional groups improves care and provides more job satisfaction - and has to be learned.

Long-term care is predominantly provided on an outpatient basis.  At the same time, cooperative care is challenging, as different health care professions rarely work under one roof and active networking therefore is necessary.

We use interprofessional learning in several courses and participate in the interprofessional education network of the Charité.

Project for teaching and learning PILLE

Electice Global Health

GPs are also the first point of contact for vulnerable groups. Therefore, it is important to offer a protected space in GP care and to communicate sensitively. The Institute of General Practice  is involved in research and teaching on GP care for vulnerable patients. We are a member of the research network Homelessness and Health at the Charité and conduct research on primary care for LGBTI patients and care for nursing home residents.

In teaching, we offer elective courses in medicine such as "Diversity of Primary Care" and "Kiezmedizin - Neighbourhood Medicine - Exploring the City as a Living Space" as well as an elective course on "Primary Care for LGBTI Patients" in the 10th semester. In nursing studies, we are involved in module 13 on diversity of elderly patients and primary care of nursing home residents.

In an interconnected world, local and global challenges in health tend to conform more and more. Questions on global health become increasingly important. In order to meet these new social and political tasks doctors have to assume a greater social commitment.

Medical students in Berlin experience the mobility of their patients every day as well as the increasing internationalization of their faculty. As evidenced by the great number of medical internships abroad it is becoming more and more important to become familiar with other health care systems, social structures and cultural contexts. This is why an increasing number of students are active in student groups or NGOs. 

To prepare the students for the medical profession we focus on the social, cultural, economic and political determinants of health in local and global contexts, in order to train them to become critical and committed doctors with a strong awareness of global health issues. In order to do so we use a teaching framework considering different approaches and local aspects of the respective target groups. For more information please click here: