Department of General and Medical Psychology

Educational and methodical activity

Responsible employee: Tertychna Nadiia, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department General and Medical Psychology, e-mail: tertichna0405@gmail.com, +380663806525

Educational and methodological activities of the Department of General and Medical Psychology are always aimed at improving the effectiveness of the educational process. This is facilitated by the introduction of new, modern methods of teaching and monitoring students’ knowledge, in particular, the rating system, license integrated exams (KROK, OSKI), online teaching, etc.

Training takes place according to educational programs in accordance with educational and professional plans and educational and qualification characteristics of training specialists in the field of knowledge “Health care” for the specialties “Medicine”, “Pediatrics”, “Medical psychology”, “Dentistry”, “Pharmacy, industrial pharmacy” “, “Physical therapy, occupational therapy”, approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Along with ensuring the reading of the discipline “Fundamentals of Psychology and Pedagogy” (since 1994) in all faculties and specialties of the university (both for domestic and foreign students), the teachers of the department (since 2001) read courses of all specialized medical and psychological disciplines, such as: general psychology, history of psychology, personality psychology, communication psychology, conflict psychology, age and pedagogical psychology, experimental psychology and psychodiagnostics, social psychology, medical psychology, family psychology, as well as a number of elective courses (selective disciplines): directions of modern psychology, deontology in medicine, psychoanalysis, psychology of life crisis and dying, art and play psychotherapy, psychology of emotions, psychology and psychotherapy of post-traumatic states, psychology of experience and many others, which are very popular among students not only of the medical and psychological faculty. All academic disciplines taught at the department have a professional focus. The list of them is constantly increasing.

All lectures, seminars, practical classes, SRS have methodical support, the fund of which is constantly replenished. The teachers are constantly developing and updating tasks for control papers.

The department pays great attention to the organization of students’ independent work. The teachers of the department are constantly improving its organization. In the work programs, the questions that are submitted for independent study are highlighted, the necessary literature is indicated. Control of independent work is carried out in practical and seminar classes. Employees of the department also use such forms of control as interviews, colloquiums, individual consultations, etc.

The educational and methodological work of the department, which was headed by Art. teacher O.O. Lazurenko, related to the improvement of the educational process. During the short time of the existence of the Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, the joint efforts of the teachers of the department developed new curricula, compiled and systematized lecture material, methodical recommendations from all disciplines for both students and teachers, which are regularly updated. All this required a creative approach, regardless of the growing pedagogical load. For this purpose, methodical seminars were regularly conducted and are conducted at the department, and as a result, the pedagogical skill of young teachers’ increases, and their professional level increases.

Considerable attention is also paid to the strengthening of interdisciplinary connections both between individual disciplines within the department and between other departments within the structure of the faculty. As a result of the harmonization of the programs of various disciplines, the duplication of individual topics and theoretical provisions has been eliminated.

An important component in the training of specialists is the writing of term papers by students. Their implementation is carried out on the basis of topics developed in advance and approved by the department, which focuses on deepening the knowledge of academic disciplines, is based on current problems of modern science, and the development of the ability to work independently with literature. Every year, the teachers of the department manage the writing of coursework in general, age-related, social, medical and experimental psychology, and other specialized disciplines. Students of II-V courses of the medical and psychological faculty are covered by this type of work. The subject of coursework, which is reviewed and updated every year, corresponds to the future professional activity of students. Employees of the department have developed methodical recommendations for the preparation of term papers.

The curriculum for the specialty “medical psychology” also provides for students to complete five industrial practices, which also have an appropriate educational and methodological design.

Since 2004, in accordance with the regulations on the introduction of English-language education at NMU, the department actively began teaching foreign students in English, which led to the development of a whole concept of this type of education and received the appropriate methodological justification with the participation of senior teacher O.O. Lazurenko. During 2004-2014, she published 9 educational and methodological manuals on the discipline “Fundamentals of Psychology. Basics of Pedagogy” and the textbook “General and Medical Psychology” (2018, 2020, co-authored with O.Yu. Tabachnikov) in English for foreign students of dental, pharmaceutical and medical faculties.

Since 2005, in accordance with the basic principles of the development of higher medical education of Ukraine in the context of the requirements of the Bologna Declaration, the department has developed educational programs in the discipline “Fundamentals of psychology. Basics of pedagogy” and “Psychology of communication”, as well as “Basics of social psychology” and “Ethical problems in medicine” based on the credit-module system of organizing the educational process, modern methodological materials were developed and introduced into the educational process. The steps taken made it possible to ensure the necessary level of teaching of disciplines, to start creating new teaching aids and visual aids, to develop their electronic versions and computer programs for monitoring students’ knowledge in a number of disciplines.

The staff of the department prepared a textbook of a new model – a national textbook on the basics of psychology and pedagogy (2012, 2014).

Under the leadership of Assoc. N.A. Tertychna, who is responsible for the educational and methodological activities of the department (since 2021), in addition to the existing ones, new curricula and syllabi for specialized disciplines were developed and implemented, in particular, “Medical psychology of emergency situations, emergency and crisis psychology”, “Psychological rehabilitation”, “Psychology of stress and trauma”, “Psychology of human health”, “Medical information systems in psychology”, “Basics of psycho-oncology”, “Developmental psychology”, “Medical psychology of childhood”, “Basics of childhood psychology” , “Psychology of social responsibility”, “Health pedagogy”, “Social psychology and work psychology”, “Professional communication in the work of a physical therapist (psychological and ethical and deontological aspects)”, “Practice on the formation of professional skills of psychologists”, ” Psychogenetics”, “Fundamentals of psychological research”, “Psychology of professional development of a doctor”, “Extreme and crisis psychology”, “Psychology of trauma”, “Psychological assistance during war and in the post-war period” and others. Every year, the department introduces new special courses and special seminars that deepen students’ knowledge of psychological disciplines.

Educational programs in psychological and pedagogical disciplines have been updated, in accordance with the new curricula, in particular, “Medical and psychological rehabilitation”, “Genetic psychology”, “Gender psychology”, “Psychology of deviant behavior”, “Psychology of self-knowledge and self-regulation”, “Practicum on the formation of professional skills”, “Special psychology and defectology”, “Psychology of the family”, “Psychology of management and business”, “Psychology of the activity of a medical worker”, “Psychology of professional development of a doctor” and others.

In recent years, the teachers of the department have completely updated, supplemented and reworked the curricula of all disciplines. In just a few years, 54 educational programs and syllabi were prepared, and corresponding methodological support materials were developed on their basis.

This is how the educational process was improved and its effectiveness increased.

The efforts of teachers of the department of general and medical psychology are always aimed, first of all, at improving the quality of teaching material and developing students’ cognitive interests.

The department considers the problem of introduction of modern technologies in education one of the most important. For this purpose, various teaching methods and techniques are used in classes, active learning methods are implemented, visual materials, presentations, etc. are used. Along with the traditional ones, new forms, methods and technologies of teaching organization are actively used in order to ensure the proper level of teaching material and students’ knowledge. These are primarily: objectivity and scientificity, improvement of the logical structure of courses, increasing the difficulty of learning, stimulation of independent thinking of students, analysis of specific psychological and pedagogical situations, solving psychological problems. Such forms of learning the material as independent work of students, colloquiums, test tasks, role-playing games, trainings, etc. are widely used. The use of audio-video equipment, complex diagnostic methods, computerization of the educational process, etc., is gaining more and more importance.

Effective educational and methodological work of the department of general and medical psychology is possible thanks to a modern computer class, which makes it possible to intensify the educational process and prepare future specialists for work in the conditions of informatization of education.

The department runs an educational and methodical seminar for teachers on current problems of the theory and practice of education and upbringing of modern youth. At the meetings, questions about the progress of the curriculum, the current performance of students, the reasons for not attending classes and failure, and measures to improve education are considered.

So, the traditions and achievements of the department of general and medical psychology in matters of organization of the educational and methodical process, its methodological support, combination of experience and energy of employees give it the opportunity to work productively today and look optimistically into the future.