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Background: In light of recent extensive efforts to improve the quality of teaching at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, comprehensive research was conducted for the first time on students of the last three years of Medical studies to determine the current state of teachers’ competencies in clinical teaching at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka. Aim: The main aim of this study was to investigate the medical students’ attitudes towards currently existing clinical teaching strategies and teachers’ competencies at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted with 4th, 5th, and 6th year students of the Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Study Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, who voluntarily and anonymously completed an online questionnaire in the academic year 2021/22. The questionnaire consisted of 3 questions about the general characteristics of the respondents and 9 questions about the methodology and specificities of clinical teaching at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka. All questions on specificities of clinical teaching included grading from 1 to 5 on a Likert scale. Results: A total of 54 students from the last three years of study participated in answering the questionnaire. The average grade for all questions on the specificities of clinical teaching was 2.4. The highest grade of 3.7 was given for the question “To what extent is the scope of the course material too detailed or too specialized for medical students?”, while the lowest grade of 1.5 was given for the question “Do teachers assess the different levels of clinical competences in students at the beginning of courses?”. Conclusion: Considering the low average grade with which students answered all questions on the specifics of clinical teaching, this survey highlights the importance of continuous education for medical educators to improve teachers’ competencies, as well as the overall quality of the teaching process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Puzzles of Heredity is a project conducted since 2021 by the Centre for Genetic Education at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka and CroMSIC – Croatian Medical Students’ International Committee. The workshop is intended for children of preschool and early school age (grades 1–4), and the aims are to introduce children to the hierarchical structure of the human body, as well as the basic concepts of genetics and principles of inheritance, and raise awareness in children about the importance of respecting differences between humans and other living beings. The workshop is conducted by genetic educators from the Centre for Genetic Education, as well as specifically trained student genetic educators from CroMSIC. Genetic educators use different types of educational materials for the workshop, including a picture book and three didactic toys, which were designed by a preschool teacher, Montessori pedagogue.The Puzzles of Heredity workshop encourages the development of genetic literacy in children from an early age, enabling the acquisition of knowledge about basic genetic concepts, developing positive attitudes towards the appreciation of differences between living beings, as well as developing respect for life in general. Genetic diseases are not exclusively rare diseases and low levels of genetic literacy among healthcare professionals and the general population are the main cause of discrimination and mistreatment of people who are born “different”. Therefore, increasing genetic literacy in children is of the utmost importance because knowledge is the only way to release fear and development of negative attitudes. The aim of this lecture is to present the aims, concept, results and significance of conducting the Puzzles of Heredity workshop in children of preschool and early school age. In addition, the aim is to emphasize the important role medical educators and medical students have in the transfer of highly specific knowledge to the general public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The higher education system in the healthcare profession is unique because professionals involved in delivering education have three simultaneous roles, including that of the healthcare provider, medical educator and scientist. However, while current mandatory programs are focused mostly on delivering education on how to become a healthcare provider, the increasing demands on professionals to acquire both teaching and research excellence imposes challenges for organizing new concepts for additional training. These highly organized professional development activities are known as faculty development programs, but are currently underrepresented in the European higher education systems. The aim of this presentation is to highlight the innovative approach to how the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, Croatia transformed professional development activities through the Centre for Improving Teachers’ Competencies and Communication Skills, a specialized organizational unit, the activities of which are aimed at both healthcare professionals, as well as students. The Centre provides a plethora of faculty development programs, which are primarily focused on educational development for improving teachers’ competencies, introducing innovative learning methods, conducting peer review and organization of international meetings. In addition, our rich student development programs include primarily research development, which is conducted in association with the scientific journal Medicina Fluminensis and represents an internationally and nationally awarded program for encouraging student scientific activities. Finally, as the result of the international collaboration between the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, this presentation emphasizes the importance of establishing international collaborative faculty and student development programs. The intention of such programs is to share best practices and provide support for the establishment of an international platform for improving professional competencies in the healthcare higher education system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In light of recent extensive efforts to improve the quality of teaching at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, a comprehensive research was conducted for the first time to determine the current state of teachers’ competencies at the Faculty. Aim: The main objective of this research was to assess the quality of teachers’ competencies at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka by medical students of all study years. Materials and Methods: The study involved students from all years of the Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Studies at the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, who anonymously and voluntarily completed an online questionnaire in the academic year 2021/22. The questionnaire consisted of four groups of questions: general information about the respondents; lesson planning (syllabi, learning objectives and outcomes, planned course content); learning methods; student assessment. All questions included grading from 1 to 5 on a Likert scale. Results: A total of 136 students from all years of study participated in answering the questionnaire. The questions on lesson planning were answered with an average grade of 3.1, with a clear trend towards a decrease in grades in the later years of study. The questions on learning methods, which relate to the actual delivery of classes, received the same average grade of 3.1. In addition, in this part of the questionnaire, respondents assessed the degree of interactivity, individualization, and relevance of the course content in the different forms of teaching, with practicals receiving the highest average grade (3.6) and lectures the lowest (2.3). The average grade obtained for the questions on student assessment was 2.8. Conclusion: The obtained results underline the importance of conducting education of medical educators with the aim of improving the quality of the teaching process, as well as teachers’ competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medicina Fluminensis is the official scientific journal of the Croatian Medical Association–Rijeka Branch and Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka, Croatia. The journal is indexed in Scopus and published in electronic and printed editions four times a year. The initiative to establish the Student Section of the journal was started in 2017 and all alctivities are implemented based on the teamwork of the Executive Editor for the Student section, student representatives in the Editorial Board, and students involved in the scientific program of the Faculty of Medicine in Rijeka. The main aim of the Student Section is to promote and enhance student scientific activities through three main activities, including conducting scientific education, providing professional support to student scientific meetings and science popularization. The student section is an educational base that enables the acquisition of knowledge and skills in scientific methodology, strengthening and providing security to students in a structural framework so that they can achieve the highest level of creative freedom in their scientific activities. Therefore, we want to provide students with quality and easily accessible science education. The main feature of our workshops is that they are conducted exclusively through active learning methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this workshop is to provide a short overview of the basic concepts in research methodology that are essential for every student in the healthcare profession. The workshop is structured into three parts. The first part is dedicated to the structure and function of case reports as a scientific article, conference abstract, poster and oral presentation. In the second part, students are introduced to the types of scientific articles, whereas the third part focuses on literature search. The workshop is conducted exclusively through active learning methods, using examples from actual research practice. At the end of the workshop, every participant is assigned with a short homework with the aim of developing specific skills in research methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]