THE TRANSVERSAL COMBINATION OF BASIC AND APPLIED SUBJECTS IS THE BASIS FOR INNOVATIVE UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

Innovation in superior education is not easy. It isn't so in a country which has a traditional scheme like Spain, and it isn't so either because it involves adapting to new concepts in education (Bologna Process) and the use of new technologies, which is, in many cases, difficult to assume. Complutense University is aware of that, and has adopted a series of measures to be able to take a step forward in this idea. Between them, those so-called “Projects on Innovative Education” are one of the most useful tools to promote the implementation of new teaching practices in university education,

Our group has a wide experience on these projects, most of the times using Anatomy as a basis, and always with a transversal point of view. The main goal in our first projects was to facilitate the study of exotic animals in the veterinary and biology curricula. Exotic animals are, to some extent, more restrictive and so, it seems easier to introduce new teaching methods. The first step in this direction was to start working with a professor from the Faculty of Biological Sciences, to expand our application to different subjects included in this degree. This time, our starting point was to have a more applied approach, less academic and more professional-oriented. Surprisingly, anatomy evolved from being a traditional subject, too theoretical and sometimes even tedious, towards a practical and directly applicable matter in the daily activities of a veterinarian or a biologist. We were able to pass from the board, the screen or the stylus, to the computer at home or in the library; the use of books or notes, to the use of Internet; from traditional lectures to networks of discussion. Thus, we began to abandon the idea of "knowledge for knowledge", to give this knowledge a more practical sense.

Our next approach has been to use Anatomy as the basis for other applied sciences: Radiology, Pathology, Internal Medicine (including Surgery], etc. It was so with exotics and, and it is the same in our latest project. This “transversal” point of view has been always essential to achieve our goals. In other words, we try to give the knowledge of a basic science a practical/professional orientation.

The present paper is a summary of the innovative education project in which we are currently working: the study of the nervous system of the dog. This time we have gone a step further, as we do not focus on a restricted field as it is the clinics of exotic animals, but on a complex and unknown part of the animal. Neurology in the veterinary profession is increasingly important, and the combination of Anatomy, Pathology and Internal Medicine can be critical to have a proper diagnosis and treatment. Again, we try to create appropriate materials to have a dynamic concept in teaching; we want students to understand the main pathological processes of the nervous system through the knowledge of basic sciences as well as to produce a useful tool for professionals. This combination of drawings, photographs, CTs and videos of clinical cases, with the corresponding explanations, has shown to be excellent in terms of efficiency and output.