Maturitas: Development and implementation of a longitudinal curriculum to foster Professional Identity Formation at the medical faculty of the University of Augsburg

Background: The promotion of Professional Identity Formation (PIF) is gaining increasing international attention. At the newly established Medical Faculty of Augsburg, the longitudinal PIF curriculum Maturitas was developed based on the Canadian model at McGill University and implemented within the core curriculum beginning in the winter semester 2019/2020. Aim: This manuscript describes the development process during the first four semesters. The process can be divided into three phases, with a particular focus on the second phase. A central conceptual shift was to understand professional identity development as a continuous process from layperson to physician, highlighting the intermediate identity of “being a medical student” as a distinct developmental stage. Approach: Within Maturitas, both curricular teaching formats and a mentoring program were introduced and successfully established. The developmental process was accompanied by literature review, formative evaluation, and continuous feedback from students and faculty. Reflective analysis resulted in the identification of key enabling factors and challenges for the implementation and sustainability of PIF curricula. Results: Initial feedback indicates positive effects such as strengthened reflective capacity. However, challenges remain, including variable participation rates and the lack of systematic assessment of defined learning outcomes. Open questions include how the long-term effectiveness and sustainability of the curriculum can be demonstrated, how PIF-related content can be integrated across subjects, and how faculty-wide competence curricula can be implemented in a resource-efficient manner. Conclusion: The Augsburg experience illustrates that longitudinal PIF curricula can be successfully integrated into a core medical curriculum. At the same time, ongoing critical evaluation, iterative adaptation, and long-term assessment are required to meaningfully anchor professional identity formation alongside knowledge acquisition and clinical skills training.