Training session in Georgia08/09/2019

Early September, NVAO organized a three-day training session at the request of the European University, a private university in Tbilisi, Georgia. 

As the focus of the training was on the quality assurance of medical education and student involvement, NVAO appealed to the Georgian Medical Student Association (GMSA) for their input and collaboration. NVAO also worked closely together with NCEQE (the National Centre for Educational Quality Enhancement) following WFME (World Federation for Medical Education) recognition of both NVAO and NCEQE.

The training sessions were attended by EU staff and students and included a mixture of people with more and less experience in QA, and from medical and non-medical fields. Participants were captivated by the quality assurance discourse, the interactive learning methods, the fringe sessions and most importantly our time management.

To highlight the importance of student involvement in quality assurance and to showcase best practice by leading by example, the trainings were delivered by two NVAO policy officers together with a NVAO student member. The third day training session organized together with GMSA was allocated especially for students, where not only students from the EU, but all Georgian medical schools were invited. The NCEQE has stated that they will welcome all students who participated in their database of student experts to participate in future external peer reviews.

"Although many of the challenges of the Georgian medical education system remain complex, including the privatization, commercialization, and internationalization of the medical schools, we believe that the participants have gained valuable insights in internal and external quality assurance and the roles that all stakeholders - including students - can and should play. A new and constructive dialogue has started within these three days at the EU and among medical students across Georgia, and we look forward to hearing how they've put the training into action."