University of Rochester program assists medical schools in Ukraine and Russia (05/26/96)

University of Rochester program assists medical schools in Ukraine and Russia

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Thirteen high-level administrators and faculty from three Russian and two Ukrainian medical schools attended the Innovations in Medical Education Conference held by the University of Rochester USAID Medical Education Partnership and Training Project from February 26 through March 8.

The goal of the conference was to introduce officials from the partnership medical schools to the U.S. medical education system with a focus on clinical teaching models, curricular reform and the evaluation process.

This meeting provided a unique opportunity for the project partners from Russian medical schools in Chelyabinsk, Kazan, and Ekaterinburg and from Ukrainian medical schools in Kyiv and Dnipropetrovske to observe clinical training settings and basic science classes in the mornings and to meet in the afternoons for presentations on specific topics and for round-table discussions.

Conference attendees gathered an immense variety of impressions while observing Attending Rounds in Internal Medicine, Grand Rounds in Internal Medicine and in Neurology, touring the Emergency Medicine Department, the Cancer Center, Research Laboratories, Pathology Laboratories for Microbiology, Cytology, and virology, and the Edward G. Miner Library.

In the Department of Anesthesiology they observed a demonstration of the electronic human patient simulator, and in the department of Pediatrics, they listened to the noon conference discussions. Outside of the U. of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and Strong Memorial Hospital, the Russian and Ukrainian visitors observed clinical teaching in progress at Genesee Hospital.

At the Monroe County Department of Health, Dr. Yuri Voronenko, head of the Board for Medical Education and Science at the National Ministry of Health in Kyiv, conferred with the director of health.

Dr. Ralph F. Jozefowicz, principal investigator for the USAID Partnership Project and associate professor of neurology, led the afternoon conference sessions. Numerous University of Rochester administrators and faculty contributed through presentations in their areas of expertise, such as medical education in the U.S., the curricular reform process, the integration of basic science and clinical science for case-based learning, the role of residents in medical education, the U.S. academic medical center, differences between Russian, Ukrainian and U.S. medical education, the financing of medical education, the evaluation process in U.S. medical schools, and advances in dental education. Daily information handouts in English and in Russian met with enthusiastic appreciation.

Although traditional formality prevailed at first, the Russian and Ukrainian conference participants soon engaged in friendly networking and in mutually supportive plans for the second year of the partnership project. Afternoon discussions yielded much information for all of the partnership representatives, and American faculty learned a lot about the Russian and Ukrainian medical education systems. While the Russians and Ukrainians partners said they expect to adopt the very best features of U.S. medical education and training for changes in their systems, we anticipate incorporating some of their different but practical approaches to patient care into our system. Evaluation comments acclaimed the Introduction to Health and Human Illness course and the Ward Team System of Clinical Teaching, both based on case presentations, as the most popular components.

The two-week Innovations in Medical Education Conference at the University of Rochester Medical Center will be followed by several workshops, in both Russia and Ukraine, that will focus on curriculum development and on standardized assessment of medical knowledge, the main goals of the USAID Medical Education Partnership and Training Project with Russia and Ukraine.

Two University of Rochester physicians, Edgar Black, M.D., and John Hansen, Ph.D., traveled in May to Ukraine and Russia to conduct three-day workshops on the integration of clinical and basic science teaching.

The first goal of these Curriculum Development Workshops is to introduce the U.S. ward team, including construction and responsibility of the different members, to a group of Ukrainian and Russian faculty engaged in the process of initiating curricular reform, and to help the faculty participants to determine ways the ward team approach can modified to fit effectively into their medical education systems. The second goal is to provide a forum for each partnership institution to present the pilot reform projects it is developing as a result of the partnership project and to encourage the partners to work collaboratively to find solutions for problems experienced to date. The third goal of the workshops is to enhance the basic science curriculum by introducing clinical correlations and case-based learning. Drs. Black and Hansen will incorporate lectures, videotaped demonstrations of ward-rounds and bedside teaching conducted at the University of Rochester and plenty of large-and small-group discussions to make the Curriculum Development Workshops a success.

Excluding administrative visits by project staff, Drs. Black and Hansen will be the seventh and eight UR physicians to travel to Russia and Ukraine as part of this project to demonstrate and discuss teaching methodologies used in U.S. medical schools.

The university reported that it continues to receive positive feedback regarding the February conference. The faculty and administrators who participated in the conference returned to their universities in Ukraine filled with increased enthusiasm for the project and a better understanding of the medical education system in the U.S.

After returning home, they immediately began instituting several new innovations based on information received at UR. They also increased their efforts to share information about the partnership project with faculty and students who might be interested in becoming involved in one or more components of the wide-reaching project in the future.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Health is also demonstrating considerable interest in the curricula and teaching methods introduced in the February conference. Dr. Yuri Voronenko, the Ministry of Health representative who attended the conference, returned to Ukraine with plans to introduce several significant changes in the prescribed medical curricula; he has been working with materials brought home from Rochester to prepare the reports with which he will initiate these reforms.

Among the positive comments concerning the medical education conference, participants repeatedly expressed appreciation for the hospitality extended to them by the Rochester-Ukrainian community. University officials said they are certain that the warm welcome and the weekend activities arranged by this community played a significant role in the participants' final assessment of their time spent in Rochester. Realizing that community involvement can add to the success of the Partnership Project, the university will be encouraging Rochester-Ukrainians to continue and increase their involvement.

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For additional information about the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry USAID Medical Education Partnership and Training Project With Russia and Ukraine, please contact: Waltraut Dube, Ph.D., Project Coordinator, University of Rochester Medical Center, 601 Elmwood Ave., Box 601, Rochester, N.Y. 14642; phone (716) 275-8859: fax, (716) 273-1016.

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