Leader: KAZNU, TPMI, IPOvSZRT

Description
To analyze the user needs and to assess the actual situation an in-depth study will be carried out by each one of the Higher Education Institutions (HEI)  involved, both in EU and CA, as well as in the European documentation about existing curricula in Post Graduate training in pediatrics and allied disciplines.

Further aim of the WP1 will be the analysis of the teaching systems currently adopted in CA and EU Universities, with their relative strengths and weaknesses.

“Ad hoc” questionnaires for the survey of user needs will be created. These questionnaires will allow the collection of information on the vision and needs of the different actors (academic staff, teachers, students, professional associations, education and health authorities).

As a result of the activities of WP1, a “Baseline document for a CA curricular proposal for the professionalization of children care management” will be elaborated, which will include all those guidelines published by the medical institutions of CA for the postgraduate training in the field of children care, according to the customary practice and legal rules of each country, as well as the identification of the respective profiles and competences of trainers in the field of advanced pediatrics.

Leader: ATSMU, BMSI, KAZNMU

Description
CA HEI will be entrusted with the task of designing a questionnaire to be virtually distributed to all existing facilities entitled to deliver medical care to children in their Country, aiming to collect reliable data in terms: 1) to quantify in some way the workload of the pediatric and related disciplines centers in each CA Country; 2) to have a possibly exact picture of the manpower situation in the CA Countries now and in the next years (stratification of the staff by age needed for this purpose); 3) to have a detailed list of the facilities available for pediatric centers.

On the basis of the acquired results matched with demographic and epidemiological studies on their populations, it will be therefore possible to ground on solid basis the forecast about future needs of new paediatric medical staff to be trained.

Leader: UULM

Description
As a result of the activities of WP1 and WP2, we expect the curricular design for the post graduate training of professionals in children care to be elaborated, for each participating CA country.

Main goal in this WP is to design a detailed curriculum based on an accurate selection of the more appropriate contents and best practices to be adopted and implemented by the Postgraduate Training Schools (PGTS) in Paediatrics, Paediatric Surgery and Child Neuropsychiatry of the selected CA Medical Faculties.

The new curricula will be organized in a modular way, in order to simplify their adoption and adaptation to the specific needs of the partner CA countries. The basic template of the curriculum will be composed by the same modules for all CA Countries partners; in a deeper analysis it will be then examined the possible need of a fine tuning of the modular template curriculum according to the specific problems of each Country involved.

In this frame, every CA HEI will have the challenging work of designing at least one own curricular design, upon the “Baseline document for a CA curricular proposal for the professionalization of children care management” and the collection of best practices elaborated in WP1, as well as the data collected in the census from WP2 as far as number of needed manpower is concerned.

Leader: UNIJAG

Description
As a result of the activities of WP4 we expect the training program for CA HEIs staff and teachers implicated with the new curriculum be carried out.

There will be two important training cornerstones, one which will be centered on the pedagogic and didactic aspects, mainly linked to the utilization of innovative teaching systems to be introduced, and another one centered on the perspective over the contents.

The training centered on pedagogic and didactic aspects will include the incorporation of innovations for the perspective over the contents, which will be focused on the development of professional competences defined on the baseline. Starting from the most consolidated international experiences, new teaching techniques will be introduced and evaluated in the different contexts. In particular, it will be emphasised the use of IT in the teaching process, from the elementary task of creating an effective presentation to the use of virtual reality and to the critical access to the main medical databases available on the net. Specific attention will be devoted to the introduction of innovative teaching techniques such as simulation based training laboratories, Objective Structured clinical Examination, Management Information System training, etc.

More classical training courses will be given to selected young academic staff during stages of 1 month in the European partner Universities, specifically in Clinical Genetics and Bioethics.

As a result of the activities of WP4 we expect to have a group of teachers well exposed and trained in new teaching skills, with all Universities involved in the project linked in a virtual network, sharing not only the same hardware and software, – both for educational and administrative purposes -, but particularly the same attitude and style towards the training of young professionals in the care of children.

Leader: KAZMUCE, TPMI, KHSMU

Description
As a result of the activities of WP5 we expect to have the basis to set up a trial implementation of the first year of the new curriculum in at least one HEI in the project, ideally one for each CA partner country. Even better, it could be foreseen to build up in each one of the CA countries an interuniversity group of medical trainees wishing to test the new training system.

Experience thus gained will be extremely useful to test on practical grounds the feasibility of the new designed curricula, to fine tune their design, to make the changes needed for the full implementation of the new curricula in a foreseeable future structural project aimed to formalize the new proposed postgraduate training organization within the national medical education regulations.

Leader: UNIJAG

Description
Previous WPs have been designed to modernise and update the CONTENTS of postgraduate teaching, while activities foreseen in WP6 aim at modernising and updating the METHODS to vehiculate these contents through a smart utilisation of available ICT technologies.

To reach this goal it is foreseen to transform one classroom in each partner University from the classic frontal and one-way learning environment into an interconnected, multidirectional environment, conducive to interaction between students and teacher, thus helping to deeply modify an outdated educational methodology.

Leader: UULM

Description
As a result of the activities of WP7 we expect that the project will have developed its processes and reached its results in accordance with the predetermined standards and goals settled in the quality assurance plan. As substantial part of the follow-up and assessment procedure, a monitoring and quality system will have been provided through a quality plan. As the first step, the quality plan will establish predetermined quality standards for:

• Evaluation of the baseline standard of postgraduate medical doctors concluding the actual training process vs the European standard, done by an independent external institution particularly expert and authoritative at European level;
• Training for tutors teaching in the new curricula;
• Academic materials for distance learning;
• Implementation of the first-year postgraduate training.

Leader: KAZNMU, BSMI, ATSMU

Description
As a result of the activities of WP8 we expect to have the activities and results of the project widely spread and embedded among the different target audiences of the project dissemination activities: different actors involved in the CA postgraduate teaching and accrediting, health management stakeholders, networks and stages of regional integration.

Main objective of the dissemination plan will be to foster the transfer of the upgrading processes implemented for Pediatrics to other medical specialties in the CA Countries involved, with the possible goal of building up a structural project for CA Universities.

Leader: UNIPV

Description
As a result of the activities of WP9 we expect that the project will have met its entire objectives and products on time, on budget, and with quality results. Based on the principle of binding decision provisions and agreements upon all partners, the project management approach grants transparency and commitment to all the engaged partners and thus facilitates an unobstructed and successful project evolution as planned. Any deviation in the progress of activities, costs, financing and fulfillment of contractual obligations will be monitored and controlled. A contingency plan will be elaborated for the effective and timely application of any corrective action that may be deemed necessary and procedures for the management of quality will be implemented.