University Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate Study of Medicine

Simulation of Clinical Skills is a mandatory course on the sixth year of the Integrated Undergraduate and Graduate University Study of Medicine in English. Comprising 8 hours of lectures and 125 hours of practicals, the course totals 133 hours, accounting for 6 ECTS.

The course is facilitated by an experienced team of medical educators and physicians from different departments, including Anaesthesiology, Resuscitation, Emergency, and Intensive Care Medicine, Internal Medicine, Gynaecology and Obstetrics, and Paediatrics. These educators are based at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Rijeka, and Clinical Hospital Centre Rijeka.

The primary objective of this course is to equip sixth-year medical students with the skills necessary to effectively respond to a variety of emergency medical conditions using simulation techniques. The course endeavours to enhance students’ decision-making skills, hone their clinical judgement, and develop their communication and teamwork abilities. This is achieved through a combination of concise theoretical overviews of specific medical skills and/or emergency medical conditions, and the practical application of this knowledge in simulations of real-world scenarios.

Psychological medicine is a clinical discipline that helps doctors and patients improve the ways to deal with the disease and the treatment process. This is important in all medical disciplines because no clinical practice can ignore the psychological and emotional reactions of patients and doctors. Psychological medicine emphasizes the position of the patient as an integral human being, in a specific social environment, through different life phases and in all life circumstances.

The main goal of the course is to develop the sensitivity and understanding of the psychological aspects of physical illness and the ability to observe and recognize emotional interactions between patients and doctors.

Course objectives are:

- Understanding the relationship between patient – physician - disease

- Identifying the psychological components of the disease

- Explaining and defining transference and countertransference

- Assessment of the factors that shape attitudes towards the disease and the patient

- Explaining the significance of empathy

- Explaining the psychological reactions to the disease

- Explaining the psychological factors that contribute to the onset of the disease

- Explaining the psychological factors as the disease modulators

Upon completion of the course the student will:

- Adopt communication skills and conduct an interview with a patient

- Assess and describe the psychological condition, symptoms of anxiety, stress, crisis, and mourning reactions

- Identify transference and countertransference reactions

- Develop empathy for patients, family members of patients, colleagues, and other professional associates