School of Non-Medical Education: Course for Educators

This year, the Ukrainian-Swiss project “Medical Education Development,” in collaboration with the Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC), launched a new educational program—the School of Non-Medical Education—for educators who teach and mentor the next generation of doctors in Ukraine.

The idea behind the School

The idea for this program emerged in response to the demands of modern society: students no longer want to follow a standard approach to learning, studying only from books and memorizing material. External, social, and political contexts increasingly influence the development of professionals. Being a good educator, doctor, or specialist is not enough if one only possesses hard skills. Instead, acquiring soft skills and having a passion for continuous personal development are essential. Therefore, knowledge beyond the medical field has become just as important as professional qualification upgrades. Medicine, like many other specialized disciplines, is often taught in Ukraine without considering social processes, culture, or philosophy—without a humanities component. We believe this is an outdated and non-European approach. It is hard to argue that the humanities enhance critical reflection, which in turn influences teaching methodologies and personal development.

We believe such knowledge enriches teaching practices and promotes the development of new approaches in medical education. However, these topics do not always receive sufficient attention in curricula. The School of Non-Medical Education is an excellent response to modern challenges—it is a place where familiar things can be viewed from a new perspective.

School format

As part of the School of Non-Medical Education, we conducted three three-day sessions, each dedicated to specific topics and led by experienced trainers from the Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC). The first session, moderated by Pavlo Kovtoniuk, focused on Ukraine’s healthcare system. The second session, led by Matviy Khrenov, explored human interaction with society and the world. The third session, curated by Nataliia Riabtseva, was dedicated to personal development. Participants included educators from medical and nursing schools, selected through a competitive process.

First session: Systems

The first session of the School of Non-Medical Education took place in Lviv on 16–18 May. It began with a lecture by Sergiy Kvit, President of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, on the topic: “Education as a Capability, Responsibility, and Necessity.”

“What we call universities in our post-Soviet understanding is not the same as universities in the European tradition. In Europe, universities have always been autonomous. The idea of autonomy is what defines a university. If Ukraine wants modern universities, they must be autonomous. This means being responsible for their own quality.”

Over three days, participants engaged in discussions with Pavlo Kovtoniuk about the past, present, and post-war future of Ukraine’s healthcare system. They also explored medical education with Oleksandr Linchevskyi, chief medical officer at the Dobrobut network, military surgeon at the “Security Service of Ukraine” (SBU) medical department, and former Deputy Minister of Health (2016–2019). Additionally, they examined the political philosophy of health with Andrii Vyshnevskyi, lawyer, expert in public administration reform, and former Deputy Head of the National Agency on Corruption Prevention (NACP). The participants also discussed Ukraine’s social transformations over the past 200 years with Yevhen Hlibovytskyi, an expert in long-term strategies and founder of pro.mova.

According to both the organizers and the participants, the first session encouraged attendees to step out of their comfort zones and reconsider familiar processes from a new perspective.

“The first session inspired us to think about how we shape healthcare and medical education systems. Society needs to rethink its priorities and focus on education quality rather than just accessibility. After all, we will ultimately assess our medical education as consumers of healthcare services.”

“It sparked a desire for cooperation and dialogue, providing an opportunity to take a systematic look at healthcare, public health, and the role of medical education within it. The materials presented provoked deep reflection and raised new questions.”

“It broadened our perspective on historical and political processes in the country and within the healthcare system. It fostered an understanding of personal responsibility in Ukraine’s future reconstruction and the need to change educational approaches to create an ideal medical environment for discussion.”

Second session: Society and World

The second session of the School took place in Lviv on 13–15 June, curated by Matviy Khrenov.

Before the session, Matviy shared his vision:

“This module is dedicated to human interaction with society and the world. We will explore political philosophy, societal mechanisms, and leadership roles. Medical universities primarily focus on technical skills. However, I believe higher education should also contribute to a person’s comprehensive development. In this module, we will expand participants’ horizons and work on their worldview, perception, and understanding of societal processes.”

To bring this vision to life, Matviy invited Sviatoslav Motren, lecturer at the Ukrainian Catholic University, who delivered lectures on political philosophy; Myroslav Marynovych, Ukrainian dissident, who spoke on Ukrainian identity and nation-building; writer Andriy Lyubka, who discussed his book “In Search of Barbarians” and the concept of “us vs. them” based on national stereotypes. Besides engaging with guest speakers, participants explored leadership, strategy-building, and visited the art space “Ya Gallery.”

“Just like last time, this session makes me reflect on how to work most effectively and efficiently in my role; what I can change to make things better… However, I must find the answers to these questions within myself, not in someone else.”

“I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity to learn from the best! We listened with fascination about ethical leadership, analyzed ourselves, our colleagues, true and so-called leaders, and, of course, thought about what to do with this knowledge.”

Third Session: Individual

The third session took place in Lviv Oblast from 11 to 13 July, curated by Nataliia Riabtseva. She emphasized that the central theme of this module was the individual:

“After examining systems and the world, we wanted participants to ask themselves: ‘What should I do with this knowledge? What is my role?’ That is why the speakers of this module discussed different thinking paradigms, ethical issues, literature, and self-renewal. This allowed participants to reflect on the complexity of the world, human differences, ambiguous decisions, and their personal roles in change.”

Among the speakers invited to this session were Valerii Pekar, an entrepreneur and lecturer, who presented ‘The Evolution of Thinking, Leadership, and Management’; Rev. Pavlo Khud, a lecturer at Ukrainian Catholic University, who gave a lecture on ‘Ethics of Decision-Making,’ where, together with the participants, he sought answers to difficult questions and explored the nature of evil; Bohdana Neborak, a journalist and cultural manager, who spoke about reading as a practice in democratic societies, and also taught the School participants to read critically and be not only readers but also critics; and Yevhen Fiediechkin, a team interaction trainer and mental well-being specialist at DeStigma, who spoke about the impact of personality on the recovery process, emphasizing that this is a process for the country and society, the foundation of which starts today.

“Thanks to the illustrated presentation, the speaker’s excellent examples for each thinking paradigm, case studies, and dialogue with the audience, we were able to understand each paradigm, identify ourselves with a specific color, and realize how to communicate with colors ‘lower’ in the spectrum.”

“The factual content, the delivery of information, audience interaction, and responses to questions—all components were at a level that could satisfy even the most demanding listeners. Working with a single concept throughout the day allowed us to dive deep into it and immediately apply it in practice.”

When designing the School of Non-Medical Education, our goal was to open the doors of humanities to medical educators, helping them expand their horizons and become change-makers in their institutions. We hope we succeeded—at least, some participant reflections suggest we did.

We are gratefull to our friends and partners at the Ukrainian Healthcare Center (UHC), as well as to all the speakers and participants who made this event so meaningful, insightful, and valuable!