On 15–18 May 2023, Professor Vaiva Hendrixson, vice-dean for Education and Strategic Partnerships; Rasa Šlikaitė, head of Education Projects; and Lina Kocienė, head of Communications at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University visited the University of Minho School of Medicine in Braga, Portugal. The university, a member of the Arqus Alliance, organised a week of staff training as part of the Erasmus+ exchange programme.
Founded in 1973, the University of Minho is now one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education in Portugal and is gradually establishing itself on the international scene. The eMed staff training week at the University of Minho School of Medicine brought together representatives from universities in Switzerland (University of Lucerne), Germany (Martin-Luther-Universität, Halle-Wittenberg), Italy (Università degli Studi di Padova), Poland (Medical University of Silesia), the Czech Republic, Spain, and Lithuania (Vilnius University).
During the week’s events, each participant had the opportunity to discover activities of interest, meet colleagues in their field, plan future joint projects, test the international popularity of their university, and pursue possibilities for further cooperation.
Introduction to distance learning
“The eMed programme impressed me. It was a well-organised, extremely well-structured event that provided a valuable experience. Intensive training, group work, discussions, and workshops were held on international communication, the internationalisation of studies, the use of active learning methods, and the organisation, coordination and management of international projects. The group assignments were particularly valuable, one of which was to develop a COIL course and the other was to present a list of topics for learning modules for academic and non-academic staff, justifying their relevance,” Professor Vaiva Hendrixson, said while sharing her impressions of the visit.
She elaborated on the COIL approach: “COIL, or collaborative online international learning, combines accredited courses by linking the classrooms of two or more higher education institutions, each in a different country or cultural environment. The COIL model encourages students from different countries to share a common online classroom. In addition, COIL creates an equivalent team-based learning environment where lecturers from different countries work together to develop a common learning programme, emphasising experiential and collaborative learning for students. COIL courses give new contextual meaning to the ideas explored and provide students with new opportunities to develop intercultural awareness. Classes can be fully online or delivered in a blended format, with traditional face-to-face classes taking place at each of COIL’s participating universities and collaborative student work taking place on online platforms for learning.”
Personal archive photographs.
Experiences in science communication exchanged
Lina Kocienė, head of the Communications Department of the Faculty of Medicine, said that she was most interested in the fact that the event was dedicated exclusively to the representatives of medical schools and that the entire week’s programme was structured around the internationalisation of medicine and related study programmes, exchanges, and mutual cooperation. With regard to herself, Kocienė prioritised the areas of intercultural communication and science communication. “I was particularly excited about the opportunity to meet with the University of Minho’s communications team to talk about processes. They are very focused on science communication, with excellent profiles for their research groups and researchers, and they have a good track record in publicising science. I hope we can apply something here. On the other hand, my new colleagues were very interested in the experience of Vilnius University. I saw that they were taking notes,” she said with a smile, “so I guess we had a mutually beneficial meeting.” She is of the view that, when working in an international environment, the Faculty of Medicine can already be regarded as international and that it is very important to check your approach, activities, and initiatives with equivalent universities. “When participating in workshops, discussions, or working groups, you discover different approaches and experiences, and then you realise that there is no one right way or one-size-fits-all solution. The most important thing is to adapt to changes in time and not be afraid to try something new,” Kocienė said about her experience at the event.
Delight at links formed with other universities
According to Rasa Šlikaitė, Education Project manager at the Faculty of Medicine, this learning week was a great opportunity to exchange ideas about the importance of internationalisation for universities, medical schools, and faculties. “The organisers really did their best to bring together representatives of universities from different countries to share their experience in implementing international exchange and cooperation projects aimed at internationalising the content of study programmes and subjects/modules. They prepared various tasks that we had to complete, discuss and present in teams. During the discussions, we found out about the good practices of other institutions of higher education, and we had a lot of ideas about what could be implemented at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University.” She explained that it was particularly valuable to learn about COIL and MOOC (massive open online courses). By developing these programmes or adapting existing ones, the University of Minho School of Medicine has created the conditions for students to “internationalise at home”, while helping them to integrate into the diverse communities of other institutions of higher education. “I am glad that the participating universities have expressed their willingness to cooperate with the lecturers and researchers from our Faculty by inviting them to teach and contribute to research groups”, Šlikaitė said.
Personal archive photographs.