FORMATION OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE OF FOREIGN STUDENTS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Authors: Mateiko H. B. , Horbal N. B. , Nesterova T. V. 
Published: October 2024

The article highlights the experience of professional competence formation of foreign medical students with an English-language form of education at the Department of Children Infectious Diseases of the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University. Traditional and interactive teaching methods used during classroom work with students are described.
Professional competence involves the ability to use knowledge, skills and abilities in practice effectively. For future doctors, it includes mastering diagnostic methods, emergency situations management, and using modern technics of diagnosis and treatment.
Aim. The aim is to describe and analyze methods of professional competence formation of foreign students at the Department of Children Infectious Diseases during classroom work.
Research results. At the Department of Children Infectious Diseases, foreign students study children infectious diseases and elective disciplines - immunoprophylaxis of infectious diseases, clinical parasitology and tropical medicine. When teaching medical disciplines to foreign students, it is necessary to take into account their insufficient level of Ukrainian language proficiency, which is an obstacle to communicating with patients and fully mastering the method of taking anamnesis when working in the hospital near the patient’s bedside. Therefore, the teacher also plays the role of an interpreter.
During practical classes control of the input level of knowledge is carried out with the use of multiple choice questions. The final level of knowledge is monitored using situational tasks. Work with the theoretical material takes place in the form of a discussion, the "round table" method with "brainstorming". The main part of the practical class is conducted at the patient's bedside in the departments of the infectious disease hospital. The teacher translates during direct communication between students and patients, corrects the techics of the examination. During classes, students receive structured mini-cases with a description of a clinical case and work in small groups. During case discussions, the teacher is liberal, ready to listen to various opinions and ways of solving a problem situation.
Students of the fifth year visit lectures, during which teachers demonstrate multimedia presentations with graphs, schemes of pathogenesis, photos of patients. Combining the lecturer's comments with video information and animation greatly enhances the attention of the audience. Demonstration of clinical cases during the lecture, followed by a discussion in a dialog mode, is valuable. During the lectures, information about the epidemiological situation regarding a particular disease in the countries from which the students came is presented and discussed.
Conclusion. For professional competence formation of future doctors, a combination of traditional and interactive teaching methods is effective. In the process of the professional competence formation, all its components should be taken into account: cognitive, motivational and personal. The use of the case method increases cognitive interest, promotes the development of communication skills and clinical thinking. A competent, highly qualified teacher who is fluent in English and uses modern information sources, is an active organizer and participant in the educational process.