CC BY
18
MEDICINE AS AN IMPORTANT AREA OF LIFELONG EDUCATION
U. А. Kurbonov
S. S. Subkhanov
D. S. Dodkhoev
Lifelong education became a very important issue In the twenty-first century due to the quickly changing environment, change of technological processes, and the exponential accumulation of knowledge. It is widely known that already 100 -150 years ago the technological process was organized practically manually. That is why knowledge and skills were transferred directly from an expert to a student. However, at the same time, another scientific and technological revolution took place which demanded preparation of more qualified staff. Since that moment the well-developed countries of the world have been paying large attention to education, because of dependence of their progress and status on education. As a result, during the last century the system of higher and vocational training (professional) education has been undergoing many reforms. Large-scale implementation of the scientific achievements dictated the use of the manufacturing technologies, and consequently, the level of training of the labor force. As a consequence, the world entered the postindustrial era of development.
For the postindustrial countries, development and trade of innovative technologies became typical. The notion “innovation technology” means continuously developing knowledge, emergence of new sciences. “Continuously updating information” becomes priority number one. In order to be “skilled at this point of time” it is necessary to continuously improve one’s skills. It has an impact upon the professional competitiveness and “a place in the Sun”, the possibility to find good job and salary. So, such a notion as “lifelong learning” (lifelong education) became a vital need. A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning passed in 2000 by the European Union should be specifically mentioned. This Memorandum covers issues of lifelong education in the society in general, whereas the medical community takes the lead in this process.
If we look at the history of development of medicine, we may see that the medical science during the last century has made a big push in the technologies of diagnostics and treatment. Medicine has made big progress in the area of understanding the biological processes that take place in the human body starting from simple external manifestations up to the processes that take place on the subcellular level, from simple X-ray imaging up to construction of 3-D patterns of organs and systems. Over the last period of time antibiotic drugs, anti-virus drugs, immunomodulatory drugs and other drugs have become widely used, and the process of their renewal is still going on, so these drugs are, in fact, drugs of the third - fifth generation. During this period of time surgery achieved progress from 1
1 A Memorandum on Lifelong Learning / COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES. - Brussels, 30.10.2000 (SEC(2000) 1832). - 36 p.
36
major surgery up to minimum invasion procedures. And we may give many such examples, practically, in all areas of medicine.
In today’s world of information only several years go by from the moment of opening until the moment of practical use. At first, an increase in the amount of information resulted in “conveyorization” of medicine, i.e. division into individual specialties and sub-specialties. However, this also resulted in an increase in the amount of information. Nowadays it is obvious that the amount of knowledge in medicine is doubled every three years, and a doctor should undergo advanced training every 5 years. Consequently, doctors work with obviously outdated information for a period of 2-3 years. “Timely received and implemented information” has a direct impact upon the quality of medical aid. That is why the issue of lifelong education became a concern for medical workers already since the 1990s of the twentieth century. As a result, in 2001 The World-Wide Organization of Medical Education introduced such a notion as “lifelong professional development of doctors. According to the standards of the World-Wide Organization of Medical Education, lifelong professional development is considered to be a professional duty of each doctor...” 1. Lifelong professional development of a doctor covers the period starting from graduation from main a medical institution in the course of preparation of a thesis to degree, and in the course of its defense, and after that during the whole period of a doctor’s professional activities. However, unfortunately many medical workers with big working experience do not find it important and essential to be guided by professional standards, and also to use the generalized experience of randomized clinical tests, to have a critical eye on the opinion of traditional academic leaders, and regularly update and replenish their own theoretical and practical knowledge.
That is why the issue of lifelong professional education of doctors is a crucial problem for Tajik medicine. The wish of a specialist to improve his/her knowledge should be developed starting from his/her studentship. That is why the reform of medical education in Tajikistan started from the reform of basic medical education at Tajik State Medical University named after Abu Ali Ibn Sino (hereinafter TSMU named after Abu Ali Ibn Sino). During the period of study it is very important, apart from transfer of knowledge to students, to develop their ability to learn systematically, independently, to be able to find necessary knowledge in the information environment, to be able to analyze this knowledge, systematize and implement it in practical life. So, during the time of preparation of a thesis for a degree, a student must not only have special knowledge and skills in his/her profession, but also develop the ability to continuously work in order to upgrade the level of his/her qualifications and competences. The ability to learn becomes more and more important, maybe even more important than practical experience, which in today’s conditions of development of medicine quickly becomes out of date. That is why the second stage includes creation of conditions for lifelong professional development of medical staff. The Tajik Institution of Postgraduate Preparation of Medical Staff was set up in order to solve the issue of training and retraining of medical staff. However, this Institution could not cover all directions of medical 1
1 Medical education in the world and Ukraine / Y.V. Polyachenko [and others]. - Kiev: IPP Kontrast, 2005. - 464 p.
37
work, in view of which in 2008 the Center of Advance Training and Professional Retraining (CAT and PR) was founded at TSMU named after Abu Ali Ibn Sino. This made it possible to cover all areas of medical activities and to create an environment of health competition in the field of training and retraining of medical staff, which corresponds to the needs of development of today’s information society. At the present time, 179 advanced training and professional retraining programs for medical workers have been developed and offered at the Center, as well as 5 programs for advanced training of professors and university teachers. Advanced training for medical staff includes the following types of education: subject-based improvement (1 and 1.5 months depending on complexity and scope of the program, 144 and 216 hours respectively); general improvement (2 months - 288 hours); professional retraining (from 4 months up to 6 months).
The analysis of our work demonstrates an insufficient level of professional preparation of several specialists of the applied health services, the need to upgrade their motivation to receive a qualification category (by early 2012 only 51.4% doctors of our country had any level of category), and regular improvement of their professional skills. Advanced training of professors and university teachers includes the following types of education: (1) for teachers with work experience of less than 5 years (144 hours); (2) for teachers with a work experience of more than 5 years (108 hours); (3) for assistant professors and senior teachers (108 hours); (4) for department chairmen and professors (72 hours); (5) educational program to receive an additional degree - “Higher School Teacher” (1080 hours).
The University also has courses of advanced training for teachers and scientific workers of educational establishments, centers, colleges, vocational training schools, and preparation courses in general humanities, social and economic, mathematical, medical and biological disciplines (144 hours).
We should acknowledge that the defects of the regulatory base of higher and postgraduate professional education do not make it possible to fix obligations of each medical worker to continuously improve his/her skills in the legal sense, which is stated in the concept of the World Federation for Medical Education.
That is why nowadays people all over the world become more and more interested in getting lifelong education, and this interest is specifically high in the area of medicine. This can be explained by the requirements of today’s society for the quality of medical aid, which, in its turn, has an impact upon competitiveness in the labor market. That is why a general strategy of many states, as it pertains to the recruitment policy, provides for ensuring quality of preparation of workers with a high level of professional competences, which is only possible in case of practical implementation of the concept of “Lifelong Education”. These concepts, in accordance with the modern concept of development of the health care services in the Republic of Tajikistan, are considered as a basis for achievement of the high level of medical care services for people.
Translated from Russian by Znanije Central Translations Bureau
38
