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Contact Persons - Health and Well-being and Medical Education Research
Ass.-Prof.in Dr.in Alexandra Huber
Medical Education Research
E-Mail: Alexandra.Huber@i-med.ac.at
Assoz.-Prof. Dr. Stefan Höfer
Projects on well-being
E-Mail: Stefan.Hoefer@i-med.ac.at
Team members
- Dr.in Emilia Waltz
- Sarah Baumgartner, BSc MSc
- Daniel Sucur
Gesundheit und Wohlbefinden / Health and Well-being
Forschungsschwerpunkt
Wir erforschen das Wohlbefinden und die Gesundheit von Medizinstudierenden und Ärztinnen:Ärzten entlang der gesamten Laufbahn. Im Fokus stehen gesundheitsförderliche Studien- und Arbeitsbedingungen, persönliche Ressourcen und deren Stärkung im Alltag, damit Ärzt:innen fachlich exzellent sowie mental und körperlich gesund bleiben. Angesichts weltweit zunehmender Belastungen wie Burnout wollen wir die Ausbildung und Arbeitswelt gesünder, menschlicher und nachhaltiger mitgestalten.
Research Focus
We study the well-being and health of medical students and physicians across the entire career span. We focus on health-promoting study and work conditions, relevant personal resources, and how to strengthen them in daily practice, enabling physicians to remain professionally excellent and mentally and physically healthy. In light of rising global strains such as burnout, we aim to shape medical education and work environments to be healthier, more humane, and more sustainable.
What are we currently working on?
- Mental Health, Subjective Health Status, and Help-Seeking Behavior Among Medical Students
- Health promotion of Medical Students
- Family Cohesion and Loneliness among Medical Students
- Digital Media Use and Life Satisfaction among University Students
- Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms among Innsbruck Medical Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic
- Happy Doctors - Well-being in the Medical Profession
- Meaning in studies of medical freshmen: associations with well-being and burnout, and the role of character strengths and their applicability
- Resource Availability and Well-being
- East Meets West: Cross-Cultural Well-being and Character Strengths of Medical Students in Austria and Taiwan
Publications
- Well-being, Mental Health and Study Characteristics of Medical Students before and during the Pandemic. Behavioral Sciences (Basel, Switzerland)
Huber, A., Rabl, L., Höge-Raisig, T., & Höfer, S. (2024). , 14(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs14010007 - Do more of what makes you happy? The applicability of signature character strengths and future physicians' well-being and health over time. Frontiers in Psychology.
Huber, A., Bair, A., Strecker, C., Höge, T., & Höfer, S. (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.534983 - Reality meets belief: A mixed methods study on character strengths and well-being of hospital physicians. Frontiers in Psychology. * Equally contributing first authors.
Kachel, T.*, Huber, A.*, Strecker, C., Höge, T., & Höfer, S. (2021). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.547773 - Character strengths profiles in medical professionals and their impact on well-being. Frontiers in Psychology.
Huber, A., Strecker, C., Kachel, T., Höge, T., & Höfer, S. (2020). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.566728 - Meaning in Studies of Medical Freshmen: Associations with Well-being and Burnout, and the Role of Character Strengths and their Applicability. Applied Research in Quality of Life. Baumgartner, S., Huber, A., Höge-Raisig, T., Schurr, T., & Höfer, S. (2026). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11482-026-10651-1
Lehrforschung / Medical Education Research
Forschungsschwerpunkt
Wir entwickeln und evaluieren analoge und digitale Lernumgebungen, einschließlich Künstlicher Intelligenz und Simulationspersonen, zur Förderung ärztlicher Gesprächskompetenzen. Untersucht werden realitätsnahe Interaktionen, individuelles Feedback und wiederholbare Übungsszenarien sowie Lernprozesse, Kompetenzerwerb und Nutzererfahrungen, um eine evidenzbasierte Integration in die Lehre zu ermöglichen. Ziel sind innovative, skalierbare Trainingsmethoden, die Kommunikation und humanistische Haltung langfristig stärken.
Research Focus
We explore AI and simulated patients to enhance clinical communication training, designing and evaluating analogue and digital learning environments. We investigate realistic interactions, individualized feedback, repeatable scenarios, and user-centered learning processes to enable evidence-based integration into medical education. The goal is innovative, scalable training that strengthens communication skills and the humanistic foundation of medical practice.
What are we currently working on?
- Recall and information quality of handovers on different structural levels (INSBAR project)
- AI-supported creation of flashcards and their potential benefits for medical communication skills (CARD-IA project)
- Foundations of Learning with Virtual Patients based on Large Language Models for Communication Training in Healthcare Education
- Development of a Simulated Patient Center for Medical Education
- Simulated Patient Feedback: Written and Video-Based Approaches
- AI-Based Communication Training for Medical Students in History Taking
- The Role of Intuition and Simulation Persons during Medical Anamnesis in Objective Structured Clinical Examinations
- Interprofessional Collaboration in Healthcare: A Simulated Night Shift for Medical and Nursing Students
Publications
- Innsbruck Skills Night: A Simulated Night Shift for Medical and Nursing Students. Poster presentation at the 19th International Skills Lab Symposium
Huber, A., Kalenka, M. & Pichler, D. (2025)., 19th - 21st March, Munich, Germany. - Kommunikative und soziale Kompetenzen im Medizincurriculum der Medizinischen Universität Innsbruck: Lernziele, Inhalt und Didaktik [Communicative and social competence in the medical curriculum of the Medical University of Innsbruck: learning objectives, content, and teaching methods].
Exenberger, S., Kumnig, M., Huber, A., Prodinger, W., Siller, H., Medicus, E., et al. (2021). GMS Journal for Medical Education, 38(3): Doc59. https://doi.org/10.3205/zma001455
