The OZZL Residents' Agreement has published its position on the announcement by the Minister of Science and Higher Education.
Educating doctors: minister of science and higher education too lenient?
Published July 3, 2024 08:14
The issue is Minister Dariusz Wieczorek's declaration that the Jan and Jędrzej Śniadecki University of Technology in Bydgoszcz and the Tarnów Academy will be included in the regulation on enrollment limits for the medical faculty. Meanwhile, the OZZL Residents' Agreement recalls that these are universities that just a few months ago received a negative opinion from the Polish Accreditation Commission. In their view, the minister's leniency in granting limits to the Tarnów Academy is cause for concern. Of the 135 hours of practical classes in normal anatomy, the academy intends to conduct only 75 hours in the conditions of the prosectorium (at the CM of the Jagiellonian University, 80 km away). The remaining 60 hours will be held using virtual tables, a VR simulator and phantoms, plastic models and atlases.
In the positions we previously provided, supported by expert voices, we conveyed that conducting anatomy classes in a form other than learning on human body slides is unacceptable.Conducting almost half of the hours of a given subject using half-measures is clearly a form of mediocrity. This decision raises concerns that conducting a significant portion of clinical classes in simulated form will not be interpreted by the ministry as an irregularity.
The staffing situation at Bydgoszcz University of Technology is also a matter of concern. In response to a public information request submitted by the Residents' Agreement, the university provided a list of employed and declared teachers.
After verification and contact with some of the staff, we showed that at least five declared teachers do not plan to work at the university, and one person is dead. This means that the university's personnel situation is most likely worse than declared, and the information provided by the institution is of questionable reliability.
In the case of faculties that have already once received a negative opinion from the Polish Accreditation Committee, the granting of limits should take place only if there is absolutely no doubt about the qualitative preparation of the faculty," the position reads.
Source: press mat.
