SIMULATION TECHNOLOGIES AS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE COMPETENCY-BASED APPROACH IN CONTEMPORARY HIGHER MEDICAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The task of contemporary higher medical education is to train highly qualified, competitive healthcare professionals who have appropriate knowledge, attitude and ability to provide quality medical services and communicate effectively with patients. In crisis conditions, the learning format for students, interns and doctors is forced to change to distance or mixed, which makes it impossible to master and practice practical skills using the classical approach (at the patient’s bedside) or in medical simulation centers. The aim of this study was to analyze existing approaches in medical education to solve the problem of teaching practical skills and to search for adapted teaching methods in modern higher medical education. During mixed or distance learning, the level of medical education should not decrease, which can be ensured by adaptive approaches for acquiring, practicing and improving practical skills at different levels of under- and postgraduate medical studies. An alternative approach is the use of simulators for individual practice that do not require a stay in a simulation center, usage of large mannequins or constant mentoring by teachers. Such training can be done at home, provided that the student purchases training material, or in the library’s reading room (provided that the university provides simulators for use). To fully improve knowledge and skills for medical students, doctors and emergency care medical instructors, the educational system should enable them to take online courses for continuous education based on virtual scenarios and realistic, non-standard clinical assignments. As a result of working with simulators of higher levels of complexity, the trainee gains sufficient experience in performing and reproducing practical skills, receiving feedback, and access to practical work at any time, which is currently not provided by the classical approach in teaching practical skills.