Development of E-learning form of study at the 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University - support of further education at the First Faculty of Medicine

The system of higher education in the Czech Republic faces a number of constraints that contribute to the relatively low level of education achieved by Czech citizens compared to, for example, the so-called "old" European Union countries. These limitations of the Czech education system include, for example, the low capacity of study places, particularly in some types of universities, the limited range of distance and combined forms of study, the almost complete absence of an E-learning form of existing study programs and the high cost of study, which are particularly unbearable for some population groups.

These facts create a "high threshold" for admission to university and its completion, which is negatively reflected in the lack of professional qualifications and flexibility of human resources in the Czech labor market. This is one of the causes of the high unemployment rate, especially among young people, and specifically among high school and apprentice graduates.

The 1st Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague asked and immediately received financial support from the EU Structural Funds for the project from the JPD3 program “Development of E-learning Form of Study at the 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague”.

The main goal of this two-year project is the introduction and development of E-learning form of study at the First Faculty of Medicine, support for human resources development by increasing the quality and availability of study programs at the First Faculty of Medicine for various target groups of applicants and expanding the range of offers by combined and distance forms of education .

The project includes: Nursing, Addictology, Dentistry, Medical Technology, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy. The development of distance and combined forms of study at the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague and specifically the creation of six study programs in the E-learning form will contribute to increasing the capacity of study programs and thus increasing the availability of study.

For this purpose E-learning Center was created at the First Faculty of Medicine under the direction of Vice-Dean for Pedagogical Work of Professor Stanislav Štípek, who is also the project manager. The Center is responsible for creating and implementing a unified study system across all implemented programs (in addition to selected fields, there will also be two selected independent courses in medicine, which will be pilot-tested in terms of preparation and transfer to E-learning form and other subjects of medicine ), for the development of uniform criteria for assessing their quality and for ensuring the development of the E-learning form of further training programs, even after the project has ended, on the basis of further demand.

In relation to the European Social Fund and its priorities, the project covers, in particular, the areas of support for human resources and their education, as prerequisites for the successful application of students in the labor market and thus for improving the quality of life of individuals and society. Through the development of distance and combined forms of study of six selected fields of study taught at the First Faculty of Medicine of Charles University in Prague and the creation of the possibility to study these programs by the E-learning form, the availability of this form of education for various groups of disadvantaged students will be increased. For example, mothers on maternity leave, unemployed and long-term unemployed young people or people working in helping professions who, for time or financial reasons, could not afford university studies. Increasing the qualifications of these disadvantaged people increases the likelihood of their entry into the labor market and thus can contribute to reducing the risks associated with their social exclusion.

The preparation of new forms of study will also require an assessment of the current quality of study programs involved in project implementation and measures to increase it, which will also contribute to the objective of qualitative development of study programs. In this context, the submitted project is fully in line with the priorities for education arising from the so-called White Paper (emphasis on new forms of study, individualization of curricula, extension of students) and other strategic documents of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports seeking to improving quality and developing initial education as a prerequisite for further developing the lifelong learning process in terms of labor market needs and knowledge economy. During the implementation of the project, the principles arising from the Memorandum on Lifelong Learning of the European Commission, the Strategy for Human Resources Development for the Czech Republic and the priorities of the Ministry of Informatics of the Czech Republic will be used.

The project is fully in line with and develops the “Long-Term Plan of Charles University in Prague” (approved by the Academic Senate on 16 April 2004) and the 1st Faculty of Medicine for Pedagogy in the areas of expanding the use of modern information technologies, developing new forms of educational programs aimed at improving quality educational process and also to increase the educational process and also to increase accessibility for the widest possible target group.

It is expected that the implementation of the project will significantly contribute to the elimination of all barriers on the way to raising the level of education of the citizens of the Czech Republic and thus to increasing their standard of living, the opportunity to find employment in the labor market and quality of life.

prof. MUDr. Stanislav Štípek, DrSc.
project leader JPD3
„Development of E-learning form of study at the 1st Medical Faculty of Charles University in Prague“

General University Hospital in Prague is a partner of the 1st Faculty of Medicine in the project “Development of E-learning Form of Study at the First Faculty of Medicine”

For more information, please visit the following link: http://webs.lf1.cuni.cz/default.asp?nDepartmentID=1943&nLanguageID=1