Grodno State
Distance learning workshop "Quality Assurance in Medical and Public Health Education"
On the 3-4th of November 2020 as part of the SPRING project – SETTING PEER REVIEW INSTRUMENTS AND GOALS FOR MEDICAL (HEALTH) EDUCATION – a distance learning workshop for university staff of Belarus "Quality Assurance in Medical and Public Health Education" was held.
The workshop was organized by Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS), Kaunas, Lithuania, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria, together with Professor Levan Metreveli, Project Leader (BAU International University, Batumi, Georgia).
The participants of the workshop were represented by employees of partner universities from Belarus: Grodno State Medical University (18 staff members) and International Sakharov Environmental Institute of Belarusian State University (11 staff members). GrSU participants included project working group, deans of all faculties, teaching staff and heads of departments of the Faculty of Mental Health Medicine as a pilot university division chosen for further implementation of the elaborated peer review instruments of education quality assessment.
Within two days the participants have attended a course of online lectures on the following subjects:
- Introduction to the SPRING project: aims, objectives vision to the future of training of health care professionals (Prof. Levan Metreveli, Project Leader, BAU, Batumi, Georgia)
- Bologna declaration and development of European higher education area: medical and public health education in focus (Prof. Linas Šumskas, LUHS, Faculty of Public Health, Kaunas, Lithuania)
- The competence framework for graduates of medical training programmes (Prof. Algimantas Tamelis, Dean, Faculty of Medicine, LUHS, Kaunas, Lithuania)
- Leadership in public health and university training (Prof. Mindaugas Stankūnas, LUHS, Faculty of Public Health, Kaunas, Lithuania)
- Quality assurance and quality culture in medical and public health higher education (Prof. Angelika Velkova, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria)
- Approaches to quality assessment in higher education. Peer review (Prof. Angelika Velkova, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria)
- Quality assurance and experience of ASPHER and APHEA in public health programme accreditation (Prof. Кarolina Lyubomirova, Member of the Executive Board of ASPHER, Vice Rector, Medical University, Sofia, Bulgaria)
One of the prerequisites of the workshop was the fulfillment of an individual control task, presented as an open question, which required a detailed reasoned answer.
Following every lecture the workshop participants had an opportunity to ask questions to a the speaker, take part in a discussion and answer the questions of the moderator – Professor Linas Šumskas (Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Faculty of Public Health, Kaunas, Lithuania).
The active participation in the workshop participants (not only of the working group, but also of other participants) was highly appreciated both during online sessions and afterwards during discussions in small groups, particularly in the dean's offices.
An important result of the workshop has become the strengthening of cooperation and establishing new professional contacts, as well as motivation for the development and improvement in order to achieve a high quality of education at the Grodno State Medical University.
Similar workshops will be further held as part of SPRING project implementation.