COMPETENCE-ORIENTED APPROACH TO MEDICAL STAFF TRAINING

Long Description
In order to create a high-quality medical education, a General Medicine department graduate's professional competence model was developed in Kazakh National Medical University (KazNMU). As a result of a discussion with employers, professors and students, five main competences were determined:
1. Knowledge – a comprehension of scientific basics of medicine and use of the knowledge in practical work
2. Practical skills – practical manipulations, patient examination and management, making decisions, qualification in providing medical aid, etc.
3. Communication skills – communicating with patients and colleagues.
4. Health layering – protection of patient’s interests.
5. Self-improvement and development – training along the lifetime. As a result, a matrix of competences for all subjects was developed for the students of all years of study. Each competence was appropriated with a level of learning.
In order to implement this model of high medical education, a sequence of competences formation, by disciplines and levels of education, for a graduate was developed.
Educational programs in six directions of “General Medicine” specialty were developed: “general practice doctor”, “surgery”, “pediatry”, “obstetrics and gynecology”, “therapy”, “hygieology and epidemiology”.
All educational programs were formed according to the state educational standard (2006) and taking in consideration of social expectations to a graduate’s intellectual, personal and behavioral qualities and skills, which determine one’s readiness to independent life, productive professional work in modern commercial relations in the society.
Implementation of competences was accompanied with remaking of model programs and inserting additions into both basic and clinical educational methodical complexes.
We used a system of multidimensional pedagogic measurement to appraise mastering of the competences obtained in quantitative and qualified levels. This permitted to make the final grading more objective and significant because all five competences were counted.