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Objective: International Posture (IP) is a construct postulated by Yashima [1] to capture attitudes towards international communities, including readiness to approach and communicate with international partners, interest in international affairs and willingness to work abroad. The implementation of global health aspects as well as the opportunity for students to study abroad differ widely among different healthcare curricula. This study therefore aimed to assess IP in undergraduate medical and midwifery students at Leipzig University.

Methods: Data was collected longitudinally using the 20-item IP-scale [2] to assess students’ IP in their first (t₁) and second year (t₂). In total, data from n=489 medical students and n=48 midwifery students from two undergraduate cohorts was obtained. Complete follow-up data (t₁ and t₂) was provided by n=49 medical and n=18 midwifery students. Descriptive data analyses (means, standard deviations) examined total IP-scores and four IP-subscales: intergroup approach-avoidance tendency (approach), interest in international vocation or activities (vocation), interest in international news (news) and having things to communicate with the world (topics). Group differences were analyzed using t-tests and Mann-Whitney tests.

Results: Medical students in their first year presented with significantly higher IP, both for the total IP-score (U=4794.00, Z=-3.84, p<0.001, Cohen’s r=0.18) and the four IP-subscales compared to first year midwifery students. Differences in IP-scores between the two healthcare professions were not significant for students in their second year (e.g., total IP-score, U=1103.00, Z=-0.68, p=0.50). Longitudinal analyses showed that medical students’ IP decreased significantly for the total IP-score (t(43)=3.07, p<0.01) as well as the subscales approach, vocation and news over the course of their first two academic years. Analyses for the longitudinal data of midwifery students showed a trend towards an increase in the IP-scores, but this was not significant (e.g., total IP-score, t(13)=-1.56, p=0.14).

Discussion: Our results show that IP may differ significantly in students of different healthcare professions. Data analyses indicate that midwifery students in our cohorts might develop interest in international exchange once engaged in their studies. In contrast, medical students’ interest in internationalization declined within their 2^nd year of studies. The longitudinal development of students’ IP over the course of study and its association with an international focus in the curriculum should therefore be further investigated in larger samples of different healthcare professions.

Take Home Messages: The IP framework is a helpful tool to analyze interest in internationalization and can be incorporated into evaluation schemes in healthcare professions’ education. The effects of curricula on the development of IP in students of healthcare professions need to be further evaluated.

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