Introduction Project TEMPUS IV – CCNURCA (Competency Based Curriculum Reform in Nursing and Caring in Western Balkan Universities) is currently under way in the international cooperation, which initiates European standards in order to innovation the content of training in nursing. The main objective of this paper is presentation of transforming education in European countries and supporting the modernization of higher education. It also focuses on the cooperation and modernization of higher education in partner countries in the wider neighborhood. Methods: Methodology for theoretical education in study program nursing includes working groups were created and questionnaire was implemented a survey in order to fulfill the objectives of the project. Results: The evaluation of a curriculum and the schedule of a study program of nursing were running in the theoretical level. The activity to support the education of teachers themselves, so-called program TOT (Training of Trainers), where the participating specialists from the ranks of teachers were giving trainings in new techniques within the theoretical and practical training to each other, was deemed inspirational. Discussion: The new program in nursing was verified in this way and monitored the suitability of students, self-evaluation and teacher satisfaction. Results of the project consortia CCNURCA represent innovative changes for the countries of Western Balkan. Educational institutions, health care institutions and government organizations shall unite their efforts for the sake of reforming the curriculum. 25 COOPERATION BETWEEN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES AND WESTERN BALKAN AT THE MODIFICATION OF NURSING STUDY
The Ministry of Education Youth and Sports approved a unique project of Masaryk University to build a simulation centre for future physicians. The concept of the project was introduced on 8 June 2017 at a faculty conference which focused on the topic of reorganization of education and the Simulation Complex of Masaryk University. The planned concept will fundamentally affect both present and future medical programmes. The Simulation Centre is unique by its complex view on medical curricula by incorporating the state-of-the-art elements of simulation medicine into ordinary teaching. Each room, simulator or learning aid will have a firm place in the learning process. The Simulation Centre (SIMU) project aims to upgrade the teaching of MU medical programmes through the implementation of advanced features of simulation medicine into ordinary teaching. During the project implementation (4/2017 – 9/2022), the curriculum will be revised with focus on the General Medicine and Dentistry study programmes. The planned revisions will overlap into the curricula of other non-medical programmes in future. Revisions will mostly impact the practical part of teaching, which will be expanded to include a comprehensive range of simulation teaching methods, using patient’s simulators, mannequins and virtual and standardized patients. Emphasis will also be placed on the development of soft skills, highlighting 21st century skills such as communication and decision-making skills, critical thinking, clinical reasoning, crisis communication and teamwork. Introduction of these new teaching methods will place high demands on infrastructure equipment such as specialized lecture rooms, simulation of the hospital environment, high-fidelity simulators, etc. Consequently, a new buidling for the Simulation Centre will be constructed as part of the project in order to meet the above-mentioned spatial and material requirements.
Modern medical and healthcare curricula represent a highly complex mixture of different disciplines, specialties and pedagogical approaches, the nature of which can be difficult to communicate to key stakeholders. This issue is exacerbated when considering curricula beyond individual institutions at a local, national or international level. To date, there is no standardised way of describing and reporting curricula within Outcome-Based Medical and Healthcare Education.
Background: Various institutions dealing with higher medical and healthcare education have different methods of organising their study programmes, which typically involve hundreds of theoretically and clinically focused courses. The importance of a well-balanced curriculum is indisputable – the society needs qualified doctors because people’s health is necessary for the functioning and development of the entire society. Objectives: In this paper, we introduce our innovative approach to identify overlaps among medical or healthcare disciplines using term similarity. A close attention is focused on the discipline of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine and its role in the General Medicine study field in the Faculty of Medicine at Masaryk University. Methods: Data and text mining techniques were used in practice, in accordance with a time-tested methodological background, which systematically covers all fundamental steps to discover and to extract knowledge from data repositories. In order to extract term similarities from a medical curriculum dataset, the CRISP-DM reference model was chosen as a well-documented practical guideline. Results: The achieved results clearly demonstrate overlapping areas among the defined disciplines in the explored curriculum. The resulting comprehensive analytical report presents the term occurrence in a set of figures and tables, which were thoroughly evaluated by experts familiar with the curriculum design process. Conclusions: In this case study, we have proposed an innovative method for identifying overlaps of terms occurring in medical and healthcare disciplines when compared to the discipline of Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine. The first results are promising in the sense of face validity. We believe that this approach can be used similarly to gain an objective overview of the entire curriculum.
Background: At universities, the EBP course occurs within the master's degree or doctorate studies. To be able to make the right decision based on finding relevant evidence is one of basic skills of a university educated graduate of medical fields. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine the degree of awareness of physiotherapy and occupational therapy students about the principles of Evidence Based Practice (EBP), to inquire into their ability to use electronic information resources for searching strategies, and apply the results in practice. Methods: Students in this study were tested by means of a questionnaire survey at the beginning and at the end of the training course Evidence Based Practice for rehabilitation disciplines. Results: The results show that after completing EBP course, students were able to define the term, to search in electronic information resources, and to apply the results to practical tasks more efficiently. Conclusions: In this pilot study, significant differences in the results have been found between the answers to the questions in the input and output surveys. The results confirm our hypothesis about the benefits of the EBP course, even in undergraduate studies. The students can apply acquired knowledge and skills in subsequent studies.
Interactive virtual scenarios and simulations in scenario-based learning are recognised by many teaching and learning communities as effective tools for developing reasoning, and for safe training in workplace competency. The WAVES project takes scenario-based learning ‘out-of-the-box’, to make it more accessible for a wide range of professions. User stories – the common artefacts used in many agile software development techniques – were used in the early stage of the WAVES project to shape future developments of existing software for authoring and playing virtual scenarios. The use of a specific template of a user story together with a gaming activity for sorting of all obtained user stories helped to simplify and accelerate the creation of user requirement specification document.
Background: Until recently, the notion of ageing was associated with older age, and only a few years ago new findings have come to light, shifting the start of ageing back to the age of late adulthood, and then gradually to younger age categories. At the same time, the possibility of prevention of main factors influencing the overall condition and independence of older people has been shown. Objective: The aim of the work is to ascertain the level of knowledge of various age groups of the population and possibilities for the prevention of older-age pathologies, to map certain lifestyle aspects of the current young generation, to provide groups of individuals from different age categories with information associated with this matter, to support the effectiveness of remembering through personal experience. Methods: A diverse group of listeners (pupils, adolescents, adults, younger senior citizens) was familiarised with the subject through age-adapted lectures. Moreover, in order to address the diverse needs of the target population, we decided to use two primary distance learning dissemination channels, which have been accepted into mainstream education. Results: A total of 1,463 probands from different age categories participated in the project. The results showed a low awareness of the necessity of lifelong prevention of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis, low levels of physical activity and short time spent outdoors among the project participants. Electronic support of the project outcomes was published in the form of a comprehensive e-learning course, and a web portal describing the prevention of older-age pathologies is available. Conclusions: The education effectiveness was proved by the increase of correct answers immediately after the education, and after 2–3 months as well. The results confirmed our previous assumption of a low level of awareness among the population of the necessity of lifelong prevention of atherosclerosis and osteoporosis. Nevertheless, effectiveness of the education event was confirmed by an increase in the number of correct answers in tests performed immediately after the education.
