Medical education in times of war: a mixed-methods needs analysis at Ukrainian medical schools

BMC Medical Education

Research

Olena Korotun¹  Tetiana Shchudrova²  Karolin Dospil³  Inga Hege³  Anja Mayer⁴  Olena Yaremko⁴ 

[1] Department of Pediatrics and Children Infectious Diseases, Bukovinian State Medical University, Teatralna Sq. 2, 58002, Chernivtsi, Ukraine;Educational Department, Bukovinian State Medical University, Teatralna Sq. 2, 58002, Chernivtsi, Ukraine;Institute for Medical Education, LMU Klinikum Munich, Pettenkoferstraße 8a, 80336, Munich, Germany;Medical Education Sciences, University of Augsburg, Universitätsstraße 2, 86159, Augsburg, Germany;

关键词: Ukraine;    War;    Medical education;    Needs;    Qualitative research;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12909-023-04768-2

 received in 2023-07-21, accepted in 2023-10-12,  发布年份 2023

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAs Ukraine struggles with the education of healthcare professionals due to the war, we aimed to identify the specific effects of the war on medical education, the resulting needs, and the expected consequences for schools, faculty, staff, students, and the healthcare system.MethodsIn October and November 2022, we performed a survey of students, faculty, and staff of medical schools in Ukraine and conducted semi-structured interviews with faculty leaders (i.e., rectors, vice-rectors). We conducted a descriptive analysis of the survey’s closed-ended questions. The survey and the interviews included open-ended questions about war-related restrictions to teaching and learning, resulting needs, and expected consequences, for which we applied a thematic analysis.ResultsWe received 239 survey responses (N = 49 faculty and staff, N = 190 students) and conducted nine interviews with faculty leaders across Ukraine. Most survey participants indicated that they had experienced restrictions or changes to their work or study due to the war (86% of faculty and staff, 69% of students). From the thematic analysis of the survey and interviews, we identified eight themes: disruption of teaching, increased workload, mental stress, financial restrictions, non-war related needs, international cooperation, quality of education, and prospects of future professionals. The quality of healthcare education in Ukraine was threatened, and schools, faculty, staff, and students were under great strain. While already established international cooperation has been supportive, some needs have still not been addressed.ConclusionsWe hope that our findings will help researchers and educators from abroad contribute to meeting Ukraine’s needs in medical education.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2023

【 图 表 】

Fig. 1

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