| Abstract: | The promotion of medical and health knowledge among the population is an integral aspect of the work of all physicians in the U.S.S.R. The coordination of different aspects of teaching on health education within the general training of the future physician is particularly important. A comprehensive interdisciplinary study was conducted by the Central Institute for Scientific Research in Health Education in several medical schools during the last 5 years in order to develop the preparedness of medical students for their future activities in health education. An experimental method on the "involvement of subjects in real-life situations" was used to evaluate the subjects' degree of preparedness. The experiment included 469 6th year medical students from 5 schools in the country. The results revealed that the students possessed a sufficient volume of knowledge in the field of health education, but the majority were unable to apply this knowledge in medical practice since they were not convinced of its necessity. An experimental educational scheme based on the findings of pedagogical and psychological studies aimed at improving teaching methods was worked out. The experimental training program included the development of scientific thinking, drawing up of a specially designed system of exercises for use as a teaching tool in developing the required intellectual skills, and application of programmed learning. The training scheme was experimentally tested with 211 students from the same 5 medical schools; the control group consisted of 235 students. The experimental training considerably improved the preparedness of students for health education activities. Most of the subjects developed the ability to act in various situations of medical practice and to select and apply proper educational treatment. This had not been the case before training. In the control group no significant difference was observed between the results obtained at the diagnostic stage and those of the control tests. |
