"Exams are running until the end of September, in contact as well as in a distant form," says the associate professor Dr Lubomír Křivan, PhD the Vice-Dean for International Affairs and International Students at Faculty of Medicine MU.
How many students stayed at Faculty of Medicine MU in Brno after knowing that borders will be closed for some time?
Faculty of Medicine MU has the biggest number of students out of all faculties at Masaryk University. It is 750 students in total. We did not make students stay in the Czech Republic but we did not invite them to leave as well. Their free decisions were respected and students were assured of maximal helpfulness at problem-solving coming from the need of epidemiological steps observance. Some students received a strong recommendation for returning to their home country issued by their embassies. The percentage of students staying in Brno differs in each class, nevertheless, there stayed more than half of all students in total.
In fact, personally for you, what was the most difficult thing in the first phase? What steps did you take?
In the beginning, the situation was unknown and new for all of us. This reflected in the flood of daily changing state regulations. At that time mainly, foreign students suffered greatly from uncertainty with no support of their families in comparison to Czech students. What is more, they were watching in fear rapidly worsening situation of their family members back home and they were worried about their future. There happened borders closures and inconsistent statements of politicians on a daily basis. Mainly students living in private lodgings were getting socially depressed during the imposed curfew time. As we speak I would like to express my thanks to our students for their patience which they showed when handling the complicated period of time while we were trying hard to make state regulations and directives into a practical form, into a practical "timetable".
What was the way of the distant form of teaching? Could you compare Faculty of Medicine MU with other faculties?
Faculty of Medicine is specific due to teaching not only at Campus (i.e. at school) but also at many clinics and hospital departments which have to manage to provide hospital care for their patients at the same time. The emergency state was deepened by the cybernetic attack targeted on the Faculty Hospital in Brno which meant a serious complication. Most lecturers were made to use on-line teaching standards immediately which brought many inconveniences.
How did students accept this form of teaching?
Students were able to adjust to this new situation very quickly. Any feedback became a highly-valued help for us. Representatives of MIMSA (Masaryk International Medical Students Association), which unites foreign students at the Faculty of Medicine, did questionnaire research focused on online teaching and its progress contributing to identification and rectification of weak places. Personally, I was pleasantly surprised at students' enthusiasm and active participation in webinars organized by lecturers.
Within the help of medical students (the 5th and the 6th class) to hospitals, foreign students got involved as well. It was the project "tandem". How do you evaluate their activity?
Although the Government Regulation during a state of emergency orders to all future medical graduates’ mandatory deployment in hospitals irrespective of nationality, we understood that a language barrier could cause complications for foreign students. For that reason, the volunteer participation of foreign students was accentuated. Some foreign students took part in helping in hospitals or in testing points as members of what so-called "tandem" with their Czech students. I have also received very positive information that many of our students who had returned to their country helped in hospitals abroad.
What is the system of the exam period for foreign students? Is it special in any way?
The exam period for the summer semester 2020 has been prolonged until the end of September. Exams are running in a personal form respecting all epidemiological rules as well as in a distant form when a student will be examined by an examiner or a committee using the MS Teams platform. Also, this is completely new experience for us but we intend to continue in using this way in future as well, mainly in cases of students unable to take a personal form of an exam due to serious reasons. All examiners are still willing to help students as much as possible.
The Critical and Creative Thinking Course is a two-block series of workshops whose aim is to broaden and improve repertoires of Masaryk University staff´s critical and creative skills, strategies and techniques. It offers hands-on experience and practical insight into dealing with situations of professional character that have open solutions.
Every year, over sixty students come to Brno hospitals for exchange internships under the auspices of the IFMSA student organisation. They take home not only valuable work experience.
