Introduction

Manual of Teaching and Learning in Medicine

(B&H Medical Faculties within the EU TEMPUS projects DICTUM and INTEL M)

Editorial Board:Th. Steiner and H.-G. Sonntag (Germany); D. Bokonjić (B&H)

In July 2006 the first „train the trainer” course with selected participants from all five B&H medical faculties was performed in Fürth, a small village close to Heidelberg, Germany. The program of this course was based on similar courses which were implemented at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty to train the teachers according to new teaching methods installed with a new curriculum for medical education in 2001 at the Heidelberg Medical Faculty called “HEICUMED” (Heidelberger curriculum medicinale). While running the EU TEMPUS Project DICTUM (JEP xxx) with its main achievement to implement a new curriculum for medical education at all 5 B&H medical faculties it became evident that there was a need for the introduction and implementation of new teaching methods to guarantee the sustainability of the new curriculum. With the DICTUM project at all 5 B&H medical faculties already core groups of motivated young teachers were established which gave the chance to select at least 5 highly interested participants from every B&H medical faculty to attend the “train the trainer” course in Fürth.

This course was very successful and was the start for the new EU TEMPUS project INTEL M (JEP 19037 – 2004) with the main focus of the implementation of new teaching methods in medicine at all B&H medical faculties. During this course the discussion about the need of background material for those new teaching methods came up and the idea was born to write a manual which should include all necessary background information to be used as a handout for the teachers.

Based on the content of the “train the trainer” course the different chapters were formulated. To stimulate and include the motivated young teachers from B&H it was decided that the authors for every chapter should be on the one hand from B&H and on the other hand from the Heidelberg Medical Faculty. For preparing the text of the chapters it was decided that the Heidelberg experts should provide the B&H partners with literature and that a first draft should be written by them. This draft should be revised by the Heidelberg partners and both author groups should finally agree to a finalized publication. It was also decided to publish this manual as an electronic version to keep the chance for adapting new developments in a very easy manner and to give all teachers a free access to the manual.

Every one who has done the job of an editor for a book with many authors knows that the intended time limit for the finalizing of all chapters hardly will be kept, this even more if there is no publisher who always urges the authors to do their job. So realizing this idea took more time than expected. We as editors are really happy that at the time 8 of the 12 chapters are ready and we hope that the last 4 chapters will be finished in spring 2009.

The editors want to thank all authors who besides their daily hard work have found the time to write the chapters. We are certain that this manual will be a very worthwhile handout for all the teachers who will take the chance to adapt their teaching procedures to a modern way and kind of education. The result will not only be a better education of the young medical generation but also more motivation and fun with the own teaching.

Heidelberg, January 2009

Dejan Bokonjic, Thorsten Steiner, Hans-Günther Sonntag