title: Educology and languages for the educational development of medical studies.
abstract: In the process of professional education and training, general education that is realized in non-specialty curricula of professional education and training is oriented towards three directions: the development of cognitive competence, the development of the personal and social, as well as professional competence. The report discusses the possibilities for educational development in the elective course of educology as well as the educational possibilities of languages when striving to achieve the goals of the general education of the health professionals, which are conditioned by the change in biomedical studies in the context of the interaction between the classical tradition and contemporary tendencies oriented towards wider understanding of health. The report analyzes which expression of the educational directions of educology and of languages is best revealed in biomedical studies when striving to achieve new goals. The health professionals' studies primarily take place at Kaunas University of Medicine, therefore in this article we present the data on the observation of the process of developing general humanitarian competence in the health professional, namely, the analysis of the curricula and student dynamics within the curricula of optional languages during the period of 1997 to 2001. We also clarify the dynamics of the elective course of educology in Kaunas University of Medicine curricula; finally, we generalize the results of the questionnaire-based inquiry of students who chose this elective course during 1999-2002. The theoretical analysis of the curricula and the results of the inquiry allow for making a conclusion on the modernization tendencies of biomedical studies, manifesting themselves through the need for the expansion of narrow professional competence, contemporary professional education, and the realization of well-rounded education.
authors.affiliation: Department of Languages and Education, Kaunas University of Medicine, A. Mickeviciaus 9, 3000 Kaunas, Lithuania. kalbuk@takas.lt
authors.forename: Raimonda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bruneviciūte
authors.forename: Nijole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Veckiene
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004501:Education, Medical; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008097:Lithuania