Curiculum info

THE PHILOSOPHY

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE NEW UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMME OF STUDIES (UPS) PLACES THE PEOPLE WHO CONSTITUTE THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE ON TOP OF THE NEW PROPOSAL.

The main goals are to liberate and develop people’s creativity and transform the School into a structure where both student‘s and teacher’s intelligence and talents will be expressed. The main target is to lead our students from their current status to specific future goals and, furthermore, to help them reach even greater achievements, which they might not even have dreamt before.

AUSOM graphic

OBJECTIVES

More specifically, the objectives of the UPS are:

An academic environment in order to create:
a. the best student
b. the best teacher

To increase positive teacher-student interaction.

The development and cultivation of new ideas, adapted to the characteristics of modern times.

To develop conditions in order to give students and teachers:
a. a different sense of possibilities
b. a different set of expectations
c. a wider range of opportunities
d. The above will give everyone the opportunity to be creative and innovate in their field.

To create educational conditions aiming to excite the curiosity, individuality and creativity of students. If the teacher lights the spark of the student’s curiosity, then the latter, very often, becomes capable of learning without further help.

Teaching is a creative process. When properly designed, it is not just an administration system. The teacher does not just convey assimilated information. At the same time, he guides, provokes and tries to awaken consciousness.

KEY FEATURES

Key features of the new Undergraduate Study Program are:

Each student, from the very first day of their enrollment in the School of Medicine will have their own academic advisor, who will guide them throughout their studies. All faculty members will be academic advisors.

 

There are 3 exam periods of 3 weeks, 2 at the end of each semester and 1 in September (before the winter semester).

 

Courses can be taught:
a. the traditional way (in the classroom)
b. in electronic form

 

The aim of the above activities is to make the most effective use of the talents of both students and professors, without making an  effort on imparting the knowledge which each student could easily find on the mobile phone.

 

Learning outcome and competencies aim to provide the ability to:
a. Examine a patient
b. Judge clinical cases, order laboratory tests, make differential diagnoses, and undertake a therapeutic plan
c. Provide immediate care of medical emergencies, including first aid and resuscitation
d. Prescribe drugs
e. Carry out practical procedures
f. Communicate effectively in a medical context
g. Apply ethical and legal principles in medical practice
h. Assess psychological and social aspects of patient illness
i. Apply the principles, skills and knowledge of evidence-based medicine
j. Use information and information technology effectively in a medical context
k. Apply scientific principles, methods and knowledge to medical practice and research
l. Promote health, engage with population health issues and work effectively in a health care and solidarity system.

One Credit Unit (CU, European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System, ECTS) corresponds to 28 hours of workload.

 

There will be 3 cycles of courses:
a. pre-clinical (1-4 semesters)
b. clinical (5-10 semesters)
c. clinical practice (11-12 semesters).

 

Organizing online courses has the following advantages:
a. Each topic is taught by the most specialist professor in the field.
b. The responsibility of the professor in the organization of his lesson is increased because the presentation of the course online (code-watching) also entails public scrutiny.
c. New knowledge on the subject being taught, e.g. new guidelines instructions are integrated directly into the e-course.

 

E-courses can be carried out in a variety of ways, chosen by professors. Two suggested forms are:
a. the theoretical development of a topic,
b. presenting an interesting patient case (8-10 min) and then quoting 6-8 multiple choice questions, analyzing the student’s correct or incorrect answer. In order for the student to proceed to the next question, he must have answered the previous one correctly.

 

Students should be actively involved in teaching by:
a. presenting interesting cases of patients
b. analysis of theoretical issues
c. presentation of articles from the medicalliterature
d. writing and presenting tasks assigned to them by the faculty members on specific topics.

Students, in order to complete their studies, must successfully attend and be tested on 83 obligatory courses with a total of 360 ECTS (76 courses up to the 10th semester and 7 clinical exercises in the 11th and 12th semesters).

 

The attendance of the 2nd and 3rd training cycle requires the full attendance of all courses and the successful examination of 2/3 of the total number of ECTS of the previous cycle.

 

The time of classic teaching in the classrooms, with the teacher’s monologue usually dominating, is reduced, while the time for discussing interesting patient cases, critically approaching a symptom or clinical or laboratory findings either in patients rooms or in small classrooms in limited groups of students, is increased.

 

Clinical lessons will be taught using the system of vertical teaching, that is, some sections of the core lessons will be taught alongside the corresponding clinical course. For example, in the 7th semester, in addition to the Cardiology course, elements of Systemic Pharmacology, Systemic Pathology, Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Biopathology, which are directly related o the circulatory system, will be taught in a few hours. The aim is to enable the student, while assimilating the clinical course, to renew their knowledge in the core subjects. The exams in the clinical courses will be completely separate from the exams in the basic courses.

 

One and only grade should be avoided when examining each course. It is suggested that the final grade be derived from the average of:
a. the degree of progress that students will have in the course during the semester (10-20%),
b. the grade from a short task conducted under the guidance of the faculty members of the course (30-40%),
c. the grade of the final examination (40-50%).

Each academic year has 2 semesters (winter and spring). Semester duration: 15 weeks.

 

If a student transfers 1/3 of the ECTS of the first training cycle to the second, in order to attend the 3rd training cycle of studies, he must have passed the 1/3 of the ECTS of the first cycle. The 1/3 of the ECTS of the second training cycle can be transferred to the third training cycle.

 

Students have the time to perform, in small groups, various tasks under the supervision of their professor, which will be presented, analyzed and criticized in larger groups of students and professors.

 

In the first 4 semesters, students will be taught basic clinical skills in a simulation environment.

 

In semesters 5-12, clinical skills will be taught by clinical professors. All clinical courses will be followed by logbooks detailing the clinical skills that students will be required to complete; otherwise, they will not participate in the final examination of the course.

 

The exams will be conducted:
a. in the traditional way
b. by electronic means. Advantages are the immediate extraction of grades at the end of the exam and the great time saving of teachers who will invest their energy on teaching interaction with students, which is also the main focus of the new undergraduate program.

School of Medicine graduates, beyond the basic scientific and professional knowledge, will be able to think freely, creatively and inductively, apply knowledge in practice, communicate in a second language beyond their mother tongue, use technology for searching, processing and analyzing information, analyze, compose, adapt to novel situations and make decisions, work independently or in a team at international or/and interdisciplinary level, produce new research ideas, plan and manage projects, respect individuality, multiculturalism and the environment, demonstrate social, professional and moral responsibility and sensitivity towards gender issues and achieve self – and peer assessment abilities. In practice, their training aims to produce learning outcomes and competencies which enable to offer service in the fields of Health, Education and Environment.