The training enhanced capacity of partner universities in Eastern European region to use active, interdisciplinary and blended modes of education, necessary for development of new educational opportunities in the field of health, innovations and society. The need for such educational opportunities is urgent against the background of healthcare systems transformations and attempts to find innovative solutions for persisting health problems in the Eastern European neighbouring areas.

The training programme focused on the following issues:

- how to develop and plan active learning curricula;

- how to clearly formulate key competences on a course level? How to translate these competences into specific course modules?

- how to develop assignments on the module level to ensure consistent development of the key competences?

- how to productively use problem-based learning in practice?

- what is the role of a teacher in student-centered learning?

- what is blended learning and how to use it?

Special attention was given to ways of translating active and blended learning methodologies into different socio-cultural contexts. During the training period groups of teachers developed outlines of new interdiciplinary education modules, using the knowledge gained.

Maastricht University, known for its Problem-Based Learning model and integrated approaches to education and research, has extensive expertise in educational capacity building. The BIHSENA consortium, consisting of Maastricht University, National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and Vinnitsa National Pirogue Memorial Medical University from Ukraine, Tomsk State University and Siberian State Medical University from Russia, Plovdiv University from Bulgaria and Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University from Poland, will continue to work together to develop capacity of higher education institutions to respond to societal health challenges.

For more information about the BIHSENA project, contact: Maastricht University, Klasien Horsman (project coordinator) k.horstman@maastrichtuniversity.nl or Olga Zvonareva (project manager) o.zvonareva@maastrichtuniversity.nl