The 26-year-old medical student is currently fine-tuning the final version of her thesis titled "Approaches to Endorse Clinical Practice Guidelines - A Review of Current Practice and a Case Study" before submitting a final version. However, her graduate thesis is so well-developed that she has already been presented with the Cochrane Austria Fellowship, opens an external URL in a new window, enabling Grandt to attend the attend the EbM (Network for Evidence-Based Medicine) Conference in Potsdam, opens an external URL in a new window, together with a Viennese colleague.

Hamburg-born Grandt found the conference to be highly rewarding and remarked: "I was able to take advantage of the opportunity to learn more about the field of EBM as well as new approaches as to how we, in the healthcare sector, can do our part to combat climate change. In addition, I took part in study day where we focused on systematic reviews and critical evaluation."

She is now focusing on her final thesis: "I am working on endorsing clinical practice guidelines, such as adopting clinical guidelines along with addressing potential tools to evaluate these kinds guidelines, general quality characteristics outlined in guidelines, and the general importance of evidence-based medicine. In addition, the paper includes a case report about endorsing a clinical practice guideline that I had the privilege to be part of. This is meant to illustrate just how we can proceed with an endorsement."

Grandt says she will fondly remember her studies at the JKU, although the Coronavirus pandemic impacted many aspects. "I spent three years of my studies at the JKU which, unfortunately, were largely overshadowed by the pandemic. As is most likely the case at many universities, educational aspects suffered, for example, on account of a lack of internships options, particularly during the first year of the pandemic. During the last year of studies, however, I was able to enjoy an academic year without any pandemic restrictions. During this time, I realized just how enthusiastic the faculty at our university is about education and how good the classes really are. Fortunately, I was able to get a lot more out of it."

Leonie Grandt expects to complete her studies during the summer of next year. What’s next for her? Grandt remarked, "In the future, I would like to train as a nephrologist."