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The “Surgical Interprofessional Training Unit (ChipS)” project at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg was awarded a teaching project prize

The ChipS training project—the Surgical Interprofessional Training Unit at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg—has been awarded the Teaching Concepts Prize by the German Society for Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery (DGOU). The award was presented to Dr. Andreas Frodl, a physician in the Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg, on behalf of the entire project team, at the DGOU Annual Congress in Berlin at the end of October 2025.   

“With ChipS, we strengthen collaboration among healthcare professions early on and impart practical skills for future clinical work,” says Agnes Onnasch, Quality Management Officer of the Center for Surgery at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg and one of the project’s initiators.

Since 2022, this innovative training format has brought together medical students in their practical year, nursing care trainees, and aspiring physical therapists once a year. During the four-week practical phase, which begins with joint orientation days, the interprofessional teams jointly take responsibility for patient care. On an orthopedic and trauma surgery ward at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg, they organize the ward’s daily routine largely independently under the guidance of experienced mentors.

“The interprofessional training ward demonstrates how important collaboration between healthcare professions is even during training. Nursing care, medicine, and therapy learn together here and thus come to understand each other’s perspectives early on,” says Stefanie Bieberstein, Director of Nursing Care at the Medical Center – University of Freiburg. “The fact that this concept has been honored with the Teaching Concepts Award underscores its significance for modern education and high-quality patient care.”