NEWS

The European Union continues to focus on cooperation in the field of higher education with third countries and the countries of the Eastern Partnership. In 2019, the project under the KA2 Program was launched Erasmus + for Capacity Building in Higher Education "Building tools and goals related to medical (health) education"(SETTING PEER REVIEW INSTRUMENTS AND GOALS FOR MEDICAL (HEALTH) EDUCATION (SPRING-4-MED) within the ERASMUS+ program KA2 - Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices - Capacity building in the field of Higher Education. The project consortium brought together partners from EU member states - Bulgaria and Lithuania, together with five countries from the Eastern Partnership - Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. 14 health and medical universities from the above 7 countries participate in the project. The coordinator and lead partner of this project is the International University of Batumi (Sakartvelo), Georgia, represented by the project manager, Professor Levan Metreveli. He has extensive experience in international professional (as Dean of the Faculty of Medicine) and political activity (working as a diplomat in a number of countries).

The aim of the project is to improve the quality of medical education in the participating partner countries. A Multinational Review Board (MLRB) has been established, which is key to the successful implementation of all project components, ensuring long-term sustainability. The project envisages the creation of an annual review journal on medical education for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The project on the Bulgarian side is coordinated by Prof. Antonia Yanakieva, PhD, Head of the Department of Health Technology Assessment at the Faculty of Public Health "Prof. Dr. Tsekomir Vodenicharov, PhD". Deputy The chairperson of the Ministry of Education and Culture is Prof. Dr. Karolina Lubomirova, MD.

The start of the project coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the challenges facing the project managers were great. Planned activities were revised and meetings attended were cancelled. Trainings and workshops took place as planned despite international travel restrictions and project activities did not stop.

A huge role in this international project is assigned to the universities of the member states of the European Union - the Faculty of Public Health "Prof. Dr. Tsekomir Vodenicharov, MD" at the Medical University - Sofia and the University of Health Sciences in Kaunas, Lithuania. They organized and conducted the trainings to increase the professional qualification in the field of improving the quality of education for the academic and administrative employees of the Universities from the five non-EU countries. A methodology for evaluating the quality of training has been developed. From the Faculty of Public Health "Prof. Prof. Dr. Tsekomir Vodenicharov, Ph.D., Prof. Dr. Anzhelika Velkova, Ph.D. - long-time expert at NAOA, Head of the Department of Social Medicine, Prof. Dr. Karolina Lubomirova, Ph.D. - Member of the Board of the Association of Schools of public health in Europe (ASPHER) and vice-rector of Medical University - Sofia and Assoc. Alexandrina Vodenicharova, MD - Deputy. Dean of Academic Activities.

Between July and November 2020, 5 introductory seminars (each with 36 participants) were organized for all universities in Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The trainings were held in the online distance learning platform Moodle and Zoom, and the recordings of these meetings are kept with the project coordinator. The leading teachers were Prof. Anzhelika Velkova, Prof. Karolina Lyubomirova, Prof. Antonia Yanakieva, Assoc. Prof. Alexandrina Vodenicharova, Prof. Algimantas Tamelis, Prof. Mindaugas Stankunas, Prof. Linas Shumkas, who shared their experience in the preparation for accreditation and evaluation of educational programs. Some of the topics were “Medicine Learning Outcomes and Competencies of Physicians, Importance of Leadership in Medical Sciences and Health Care, The Bologna Process and Assessment of Teaching Quality.

Taking into account the project plan and the wishes of the partners, in the middle of December 2020 and January 2021, two more practical, interactive, specialized seminars were held - trainings for the academic and administrative staff of the 12 universities that participate in the process of external evaluation and self-evaluation of the quality of education in these universities.

The next phase of the project is coming, during which the 12 universities from the five countries will prepare a University Self-Assessment Report.