Hannover Medical School (Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, MHH) is one of Germany‘s leading medical universities. With its concentrated support of specialized areas in research, patient care and teaching, it is now one of the finest university hospitals in the country. The amount of external funding attracted – more than 82m euros per annum – is indicative of the outstanding research conducted here, as are the scientific and medical successes achieved by various projects and collaborations.

Imparting Knowledge
More than 3,400 young people are currently studying at MHH. The School has medicine and dentistry undergraduates enrolled in patient-focused, practically oriented courses of study. Other students are doing ‘Bologna’ study programmes (with a research emphasis) in the biosciences or health sciences, or are postgraduates on a doctoral degree programme. All students benefit from the School’s integrative model, with teaching, clinical practice and research all integrally linked.

For more than 10 years now, MHH has offered a model curriculum in human medicine: HannibaL, an acronym for the School’s integrated, professionally oriented, adaptive approach to teaching. A key aspect of medical instruction under the HannibaL programme is early contact with patients. From the very first week, the 270 students in each cohort see real patients as part of their training. Each year, studies are divided into three 10-week sections known as modules. Timewise, all examinations are held in close conjunction with coursework, and are largely digital. After the clinical internship year (praktisches Jahr), students complete their degree after six years.

For those studying dental medicine, theory and practice go hand in hand. Each year MHH welcomes 80 new dentistry undergraduates. They complete their degree after 11 semesters by taking the Staatsexamen, after which they can become practitioners or undergo training to specialize in Oral, Orthodontic and Maxillofacial Surgery.

In the well-equipped, state-of-the-art Skills Lab Hannover (SkilLaH), aspiring doctors train in medical skills such as taking blood, surgical hand disinfection or placing a urinary catheter. In a facility covering 700 square metres, various themed rooms are available, made highly realistic with resources such as phantoms and practice models.

This as an ideal environment in which students training for different healthcare professions (including medicine) can learn together, including simulated patient-practitioner dialogue.

In order to recruit and keep the best young scientists, it’s necessary to offer them something really special. And MHH does just that in the form of its Hannover Biomedical Research School (HBRS). This graduate school represents an ‘umbrella organization’ for all existing structured postgraduate programmes at MHH, such as Molecular Medicine, Infection Biology, Regenerative Sciences, Auditory Sciences and Epidemiology.

In addition to structured doctoral training in experimental research, August 2015 saw MHH launch a programme called KlinStrucMed, unparalleled anywhere else in Germany, for particularly ambitious doctoral thesis projects.

Hannover is the first location in Germany to offer a Research Gap Year (FWJ). Participants assist with a research project in the fields of medicine, biology, physics or chemistry, and become acquainted at first hand with the world of science.

MHH was the first German school of medicine to establish what is known as a ‘Patients’ University’. Well-structured teaching activities convey current scientific knowledge and research results not only to specialists and experts, but also to the general public. Helping people become ‘health literate’ is one of many smart measures at MHH aimed at prevention of illness and complications.