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DEVELOPING RESEARCH SKILLS IN STUDENTS OF MEDICAL COLLEGES IN THE CONTEXT OF LIFELONG EDUCATION
T. P. Babenko
Continuous training of nurses, medical assistants, birth attendants, laboratory technicians and pharmacists is a priority prerequisite for medical education and improving competency among professionals. The Law of Ukraine "On Education", the Law of Ukraine "On Higher Education" dated January 17, 2002, and the Decree of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine "On Approval of Regulations on Public Higher Education Institutions" dated September 5, 1996, have triggered the transformation of medical schools into medical colleges. A three-tier training system for nurses is introduced as follows: Junior Specialist Nurse, Bachelor Nurse, and (from May 24, 1997) Master of Nursing. There are currently 69 medical colleges, 44 medical schools, and 2 nursery institutes in Ukraine.
The main areas of reform in the medical industry include improving the system of training of future medical workers, developing and implementing nursing development programs, expanding the functions of paramedical staff to match international standards, and developing professionals capable of providing high-quality medical aid. The system of training for mid-level health workers is based on continuity, and includes training, retraining and upgrading workers’ skills.
We understand lifelong education as a conscious, vital process of continuous learning of an individual with support of respective programs, education institutions and personal aspirations. We believe that the main prerequisite of the continuity of learning is the continuity of educational programs in education institutions of different levels.
Development of research skills begins in general education schools in the course of performing laboratory operations, solving creative problems, making experiments, and participating in conferences and academic competitions. However teachers do not always work in this direction due to a lack of time in the curriculum; therefore there is a gap in learners' preparation for self-directed research. Surveys among students show that research activities in schools are fragmented, mainly undertaken in the form of library research, and are often reduced to rewriting a paragraph from a textbook or an article in a popular science publication. With no good previous experience at creative work, such students are quite satisfied with the position of a teacher who offers the only solution to a problem that does not involve a discussion. These students tend to receive educational information in ready-to-use form due to a lack of time for research. Therefore, they experience a shortage of research-related skills throughout the training period, and hence are poorly prepared for self-directed professional activity. However, most of them are willing to engage in research, with the main motivation being a desire to get a positive mark, a passing grade, or to enhance their personal reputation among peers. Only few of them are motivated by seeking to develop their own professional proficiency and by self-improvement. No less important is reproductive orientation of learning. Students receive a large amount
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of information at lectures and have to memorize and reproduce it at a seminar or hands-on session as required. With a large amount of learning content, many students do not fully understand and comprehend it. Therefore knowledge is superficial, and the learning process loses much of its effectiveness.
Observations and questioning show that the majority of teachers, especially those with long teaching experience, are not ready to abandon conventional teaching methods. They refer to satisfactory quality of training, and express harsh criticism of new technologies, considering them ineffective. The main reason for this, in our opinion, is the inability to organize and supervise research activities of students in a proper and efficient way. This makes it more complicated to define a problem, select and formulate a topic, goal, an object and subject, and putting forward a hypothesis for future research. The teacher’s main task is to teach a student to use the acquired knowledge, skills and abilities, and find the right solutions for non-routine situations. However, most teachers perform tasks by themselves, and offer topics that are of no interest, and sometimes even unknown, to students. In this context, students remain passive observers and do not exhibit any self-creative activity.
We believe that hands-on sessions should play an important role in developing research skills in medical students. However, the conventional method of managing such sessions has a few shortcomings. For instance, the main goal of a hands-on session is to develop skills in working with medical equipment in order to learn the most common manipulations through practice. This leads to a decrease in cognitive activity. Following the clearly defined steps of an algorithm, students succeed in solving set tasks, but fail to gain insights into the essence of work. This prevents the development of research skills and creativity. New training technologies help to get rid of formalism in hands-on sessions, contribute to a better understanding of theoretical content, and develop the creative capabilities of students as part of the personality development.
Thus, research is an important factor in training young specialists, allowing for shifting the focus from the reproductive absorption of knowledge to the development of cognitive interests, a high culture of thinking, and willingness for lifelong learning by continuously enriching their bundle of knowledge, selfdetermination and self-expression. However, the ready to use conclusions found in textbooks or lecture material create the impression of finality and conclusiveness. When knowledge is taught this way, students have no opportunity to experience the process of acquiring new knowledge on the basis of the data derived from observations or experiments. It is necessary to build an environment where students will be able to carry out research throughout the period of studies at a medical college, taking into account their individual characteristics, and integrate the acquired skills in professional activities and further education on the basis of both theoretical and practical principles.
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