AMEE 2023 conference was hosted by Glasgow (Scotland). The 7th International Conference on Faculty Development in the Health Professions also took place in conjunction with AMEE 2023.

Tbilisi Medical Academy was a part of both conferences. Representatives of the Academy were at the conferences - Tsisana Lomashvili (Head of the MD program), Nino Sikharulidze (Head of the Quality Assurance Department) Bidzina Chachkhiani (Deputy Head of the Quality Assurance Department), Maka Zarnadze (Head of Faculty Development Department), Kakha Bregvadze (Programme Development Department).

Academy representatives had oral presentations and e-posters. Nino Sikharulidze and Maka Zarnadze had oral presentations. Kakha Bregvadze had e-poster.

Maka Zarnadze

Effect of "Bacteria Game" on consolidation of knowledge in medical bacteriology and antibiotic therapy from the perspective of medical students

Mathilde Lescat - Université Sorbonne Paris Nord (Paris, France);

Manana Loladze, Saif Rustum, Tsisana Lomashvili, Dea Goderdzishvili, Magda Tvildiani -

Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (Tbilisi, Georgia).

Nino Sikharulidze

Impact of COVID-19 and lockdown-related mental health issues on learning performance in medical education

Bidzina Chachkhiani, Salome khubulava - Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (Tbilisi, Georgia);

N. Katrien Hargreivs - Tbilisi State Medical University (Tbilisi, Georgia).

Kakha Bregvadze

The Faculty Mentors’ Perceptions Towards Portfolio in Undergraduate Medical Curriculum at Tbilisi Medical Academy in Georgia - Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (Tbilisi, Georgia).

The biggest event on the calendar of Medical Educators of the world each year is AMEE annual conference. Professionals and educators from around the world and from all healthcare sectors come together to hear and see new developments and techniques firsthand, discuss ideas - network and collaborate, get involved in hands-on workshops, and gain resources to help achieve excellence in their working environment.

Each year AMEE annual conference brings together professionals, educators, students, institutions, and organizations from a broad variety of healthcare sectors, to share, collaborate, and network. Addressing and showcasing the latest developments and practices in healthcare professions education and beyond, the annual AMEE conference is a chance to make connections, learn new approaches, and get involved in the development of our sector.

How do we increase students' motivation for independent learning? Tbilisi Medical Academy hosted an interactive meeting to share the innovations in the methodology of medical education. TMA lecturers gathered at an educational event to share their own experiences. 

At the meeting, TMA lecturers - Manana Loladze, Ia Khakhutaishvili, Nanuka Tsiklauri, and Ia Khurtsilava reviewed the guidelines of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and the latest research published in the journal “Medical Teacher” in the direction of increasing student motivation and developing independent learning skills. 

Speakers discussed the following topics: Motivation in Medical Education (AMEE Guide N115), Concept mapping: An aid to teaching and learning (journal “Medical Teacher”), Twelve tips for teaching neuroanatomy from the medical student's perspective (Journal “Medical Teacher”), Independent Learning and Study Skills (Practical Guide for Medical Teachers).

 Along with sharing their international experience, attendees talked about how they try to increase students' motivation for independent learning within their teaching courses. The topic of the meeting was based on the results of the satisfaction survey of the staff involved in the implementation of the program and the student survey.

Online training was conducted for lecturers regarding the use of ClinicalKey Student. The meeting was led by Tornike Metreveli, the representative of the scientific research department of TMA. 

The purpose of the training was to present the main aspects of the ClinicalKey Student resource created by Elsevier and its practical use to academic and invited staff. 

Within the framework of the meeting, the participants had the opportunity to test the possibility of the electronic resource in accordance with their study course. 

After the meeting, participants were sent instructions for using the ClinicalKey Student platform.

Tbilisi Medical Academy (TMA) continues to support the continuous professional development of staff in the direction of medical education methodology. Three more representatives of TMA, the head of the Quality Assurance Department Nino Sikharulidze, a member of the Curriculum Committee, Assistant Professor of the Department of Anatomy and Histology Salome Khubulava, and a member of the Faculty Development Department Dea Goderdzishvili successfully completed four training courses organized by the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and obtained the status of a medical education specialist. 

The ESME - "Essential Skills in Medical Education" training courses offered by AMEE are a step forward in this direction. And for TMA, it is important for integration in the European educational space. 

"The training courses were organized by AMEE's regional representative office in Georgia.

TMA Faculty Development Department organized a week of training for teachers which was held at the Academy. The representative of the Scientific Research Department, Saba Iordanishvili, shared with the audience the methodical recommendation of TSA on academic integrity. The presentation also covered such an important issue as adherence to the principles of academic integrity by students in their portfolios. Within the framework of the training, Student Relations Coordinator Saif Rustum made a presentation about the opportunities of the Turnitin program. 

As part of the training week, TMA Vice Rector in research, Ekaterine Kldiashvili spoke to the audience about the methodology of scientific communication. Reviewed the basic principles of organizing and evaluating student scientific work (presentation, essay, report, project). Maka Zarnadze, the head of the Faculty Development Department, introduced the audience to the basic principles of assessment in medical education. Meanwhile, the head of the examination center, Vakho Deisadze, presented international recommendations on the creation of the MCQ standard test. 

The goal of teacher training is to promote the professionalization of academic and invited staff in the direction of teaching-learning, assessment methods, and development of scientific-research skills. Also, promoting the formation of a qualified and experienced team of academic and visiting staff, who share the vision of the Academy in the direction of teaching and research, the institutional culture of the Academy, and accordingly, take care of improving the quality of teaching.

An innovative educational game Bacteria Game was held as a pilot at TMA. Students of the third, fourth, and fifth semesters and professors of the academy participated in the game.

Bacteria Game is an innovative educational game developed at the Sorbonne University in Paris with the support of the French Association of Microbiologists. 

The principle of the game is simple - the players must connect funny pictures of clinically important bacteria with their corresponding characteristics (morphological features, virulence, source of infection, target organs, appropriate antibiotic, natural and acquired resistance to antibiotics) and at the same time, by the same principle, identify the opponent's bacteria. French colleagues believe that such an educational game will allow students to consolidate/organize knowledge about bacteria and appropriate antibiotic therapy to prevent the irrational use of antibiotics in the future, which is one of the main reasons for the increase in the number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, one of the global health problems.

TMA students and teachers participating in the game also find the game fun and help organize knowledge, discover individual educational needs, and receive feedback.

Extensive articles on the educational game are available at the following links:

• https://journals.asm.org/doi/pdf/10.1128/jmbe.00119-21
• https://fems-microbiology.org/opportunities/bacteriagame-card-game-to-learn-clinical-microbiology-in-a-fun-way/

TMA hosted training for academic and invited staff of TMA. The topic of the training was the organization of clinical cases for Objective Structured Cinical Examination (OSCE). 

The training was prepared based on the international experience gained within the Erasmus + SAFEMED (Simulation in Undergraduate Medical Education for Improvement of Safety and Quality of Patient Care) project and was led by representatives of the TMA academic staff involved in the project, Manana Kutkhashvili and Tsisana Lomashvili. 

Within the framework of the training, the participants learned the basic principles of clinical case organization for an Objective Structured Clinical Examination. During the process, the participants were divided into groups and created bot

h clinical case scenarios for standardized patients and student evaluation forms in working groups. In addition, the training series covered how to create a standard MCQ (Multiple Choice Question). The training was conducted by the head of the TMA examination center Vakhtang Deisadze and the participants of the meeting were introduced to the recommendations developed based on international experience for creating a standard questionnaire and the importance of a unified vision in the TMA about the standard MCQ test.

TMA hosted the working meetings to share the experience gained in international conferences and summer schools. 

Head of Educational Program Tsisana Lomashvili, Vice-Rector in Research Ekaterine Kldiashvili, Manager of Continues Professional Development Maka Zarnadze, Head of Quality Assurance Department Nino Sikharulidze, Specialist in Medical Education and Research Dea Goderdzishvili and Head of Institutional Culture Department Maka Maglakelidze presented to colleagues from the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and The experience gained at scientific conferences organized by the Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE) was shared. 

International projects coordinator Khatuna Khatiashvili, curator of students' scientific activities Saba Iordanishvili, and exam center coordinator Vakho Deisadze spoke about the experience gained at the summer school in the Netherlands at Radboud University. 

Natalia Kotchlashvili, the coordinator of current projects, shared with the audience the history of cooperation with Radboud University within the framework of Erasmus project, staff mobility program, and plans. 

Representatives of the Academy's administration, academic, and invited staff participated in the meeting. Within the framework of the meetings, the participants had the opportunity to discuss and share news, experiences, challenges, and opportunities in terms of the development of medical education, the promotion of the professional development of teachers, and the development of further international relations.

Georgia hosted the annual conference of the Association of Medical Schools in Europe (AMSE). The event was attended by European and international institutions important for the development of the field, including World Federation for Medical Education (WFME), European University Association - Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE), the Organization for Ph.D. Education in Biomedicine and Health Sciences in the European System (ORPHEUS) and International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA).  Tbilisi Medical Academy was represented among the participants at the conference. TMA faculty members presented three topics:

• Arts as an effective learning tool of medical education– Maka Zarnadze, Associate Professor, Manager of Continues Professional Development;
• Using a clinical reasoning exercise as the start of a course in the research line improves motivation in research of last year students- Ekaterine Kldiashvili, Vice-Rector in Research;
• Implementation of PSI Curriculum at preclinical level in Integrated modules – Tsisana Lomashvili, Head of One-step Educational Program.

Among the speakers were internationally recognized experts and leaders in the field of medical education: David Gordon - President of the World Federation of Medical Education, the University of Manchester Emeritus Professor, (Great Britain); Harm Peters - President of the Association of European Medical Schools, Charité - Professor of Universitätsmedizin, (Germany), Alexander Hasgall - Head of Doctoral Education Council of the European University Association (EUA), Robin Stevenson - Editor-in-Chief of European CME Journal and Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Glasgow, (UK), Janusz Janczhukovic - Professor of University of Lodz (Poland), Nebojsa Lalic - Professor of University of Belgrade, (Serbia), Cris Scotter - Human Resources for Health expert for the World Health Organization.

Speakers from Ukraine, Hungary, Lithuania and representatives of more than ten institutions from Georgia also participated in the conference.

The conference was hosted by David Tvildiani Medical University.

Lyon (France) hosted the Annual Conference of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE), where TMA proudly appeared with two presentations. 

TMA Vice Rector in Research - Dr. Ekaterine Kldiashvili and medical education expert Dea Goderdzishvili delivered an oral presentation "Virtual Patient Simulators as a Pilot of eHealth Introduction in Medical Curricula”, while the Manager of Continuous Professional Development and a member of the Curriculum Committee, Maka Zarnadze presented an e-Poster around the topic - "The impact of the Self-Reflection on the Identification Learning needs of the Medical Students during preclinical years" 

Within the framework of the conference, attending members of TMA staff - Head of the Educational Program - Tsisana Lomashvili and the Head of the Quality Assurance Department Nino Sikharulidze, participated within various thematic workshops and meetings. In addition, members of TMA had opportunities to get acquainted with the most up-to-date opinions from the field experts and engage in discussions with colleagues from around the globe. 

The AMEE conference serves as the most significant annual event for everyone, involved in medical education. This year, more than 90 medical schools from all over the world participated in the conference.

TMA continues to support the continued professional development of its staff. In the field of medical education, the training courses offered by The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) are an important step in this direction. 

TMA Faculty Members Tsisana Lomashvili (Head of Educational Program), Ia Khakhutaishvili (Curriculum Committee Member), and Maka Zarnadze (Curriculum Committee Member) completed four training courses "Essential Skills in Medical Education'' organized by AMEE and gained the status of a Specialist in Medical Education. This is important for TMA to integrate into the European Educational Space. 

“The training courses were organized by the AMEE regional representation in Georgia and were led by AMEE President Trevor Gibbs. These courses allowed us to get acquainted with the innovations of medical education methodology in the format of active and quite busy workshops. In addition to the mandatory training activity, the trainees were asked to complete a post-training assignment (training reflection) to describe what knowledge we had acquired during the training and how to apply it in practice. In the course of the training, we also conducted two studies on medical education methodology - “The impact of the preclinical online Flipped Classroom (FC) on the critical thinking, a group working and independent learning abilities from student’s perspective” and “The impact of the Self-Reflection on the identification learning needs of the Medical Students during preclinical years”. One study was presented at the AMEE 2021 Glasgow Conference as an oral presentation and the other at the AMEE 2022 Lyon Conference. The involvement of the academy in this training is important because at this time we learn about the innovations in medical education methodology. We share the acquired knowledge and experience with colleagues and jointly try to introduce modern standards of teaching, learning, and assessment in TMA”- Maka Zarnadze”. 

To gain the status of a medical education specialist, six more TMA staff are currently involved in AMEE training courses.

The Team-Based Learning (TBL) session was held for students at the final stage of the integration week. The session aimed to develop students' skills of independent work, teamwork, communication, and critical thinking, and to teach the principles of evidence-based medicine.

"TBLS is one of the ways to show the TMA students the importance of teamwork. Medicine is without frontiers/borders, inexhaustible, and rapidly evolving., so it is necessary not only to have various specialists at the same medical establishments but also to enable them to work closely together to achieve the best possible results for the patient, including the best results" - Salome Buliskeria, lecturer at TMA.

One week before the session, the lectures introduced the students to the purpose of the TBL session, and the learning outcomes, divided them into groups, and provided literature. During the session, students worked in groups on a patient's case and a relevant assignment. The assignment required the integration of knowledge gained by the students within the module (anatomy, histology, physiology) and the solution of a clinical problem.

"TBL accustoms us to teamwork, students work together on integrated assignments, which in the future will help us provide effective and complete service to the patient. Right now we are going through the endocrine system, studying various diseases including diabetes. Direct communication with the real patient helped us to better understand the topic. We have discussed a diabetes case and presented posters around this topic "- Iako Barabadze, a 2nd-year medical student.

Mentors assessed both the students' integrated homework as well as their interpersonal skills.

As part of the integration week, TMA students had a meeting with real patients. This encounter served to put students in touch with real patients already at the preclinical stage of teaching and enabled them to use the knowledge and skills acquired during the various training courses to better understand patients’ problems. 

"This kind of events are interesting for us as future doctors, because proper communication between doctor and patient is one of the important aspects. Today we have seen a good example of how to have a dialogue with the patient. We are now studying diabetes and the endocrine system, and direct communication with the patient helped us a lot in deepening our theoretical knowledge." - Sandro Sagliani, a medical student of the 2nd year 

Students had the opportunity to observe the interaction between the patients with diabetes and their doctor, to ask them questions, and to discuss this topic. 

"I love relationships with young people, and communication with the future doctors was very important to me. They listened carefully and asked interesting questions. I tried to give them thorough answers. I think this practical experience will help students to deepen their professional knowledge, so I will gladly take part in similar activities at other times as well. It has a positive effect on me when the questions are varied, you look at yourself from the side, and this is an interesting and useful process "- Patient Asmat Guliashvili, 67 years old. 

At the end of the meeting, the students were divided into groups and were given one week to work on the cases of the diabetic patients provided by the teachers and were asked to present the posters afterwards. 

The final stage of the integration week is the Team-Based Learning (TBL) session, where students are required to work on an integrated assignment.

Medical Education Innovation Center of TMA organized online training on the topic of creative integrated cases and assignments. 
The meeting was held by Prof. Joke Denekens and Prof. Herman Van Rosem (Antwerp, Belgium). The training aimed to harmonize the learning process within the integrated modules. The trainers made presentations in the following areas - student and patient-centered program, and how to create an integrated assignment. 
The online meeting was attended by academic staff who are implementing integrated modules and invited teachers who had the opportunity to work as a team on integrated assignments and receive feedback from Belgian colleagues.

Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (TMA) held a portfolio mentor's three-day online training. The training was held by the heads of the Medical Education Innovation Center of TMA, Joke Denekens (Prof. In Medical Education) and Herman Van Rosem (Prof. In Medical Education) (Antwerp, Belgium). 

Within the frames of the training, through mini-lectures, workshops, and discussions the participants got introduced to the portfolio concept, developed at the academy, the structure of student assignments within the portfolio, assessment, principles of effective feedback, and the portfolio mentor rights and responsibilities. 

The portfolio is an innovative method of teaching and assessment in the educational programs of the Academy. The self-reflection learning activities and personal development plan (PDP) implemented within the portfolio enable students to engage in an active learning process for both professional and personal development and to achieve the competencies defined by the educational program that is directly related to professionalism (Including lifelong learning). 

Students are assisted by mentors in completing assignments provided through the portfolio system. 
TMA School of Medicine took the first steps towards the introduction of the portfolio method during the 2020-2021 academic year, and four mentors were involved in the process. Fifteen potential mentors are currently being trained.

On August 27-30, 2021, Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (TMA) participated in a virtual conference organized by the International Association for Medical Education (AMEE). TMA presentation was made by Tsisana Lomashvili, Head of MD Programs. She presented on the topic of “Impact of Preclinical Flipped Classroom on Critical Thinking, Group working and Independent Learning Abilities from Students’ Perspective”. Co-authors: Tsisana Lomashvili, MD, Petre Shotadze Tbilisi Medical Academy (TMA), Ia Khakhutaishvili, MD, PhD, (TMA); Tinatin Chikovani, MD, PhD, Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU), Leila Akhvlediani, MD, PhD, BAU International University Batumi (BAU), Levan Metreveli, MD, PhD, (BAU). 

The research shared by Tsisana Lomashvili was conducted within the scope of the RESME course training at the AMEE International Networking Center (Tbilisi), led by Professor David Tailor. Three Georgian institutions collaborated in the study: Tbilisi Medical Academy (TMA), Tbilisi State Medical University (TSMU) and International University Batumi (BAU). 

TMA joined the AMEE International Conference in 2016 with the status of an attendee, whereas in 2017 it already presented a poster-presentation on the introduction of an Objective Structured Practical Exam (OSPE) in the curriculum. 

The Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) is a worldwide organization with members in 90 countries on five continents. 

The AMEE conference is the leading annual event for all stakeholders in medical and healthcare education. The 2021 AMEE Conference was attended by experts in the field of medical education and healthcare, who shared their experiences through plenary sessions, symposia, seminars and workshops.

Training around the concept of ''Flipped Classroom'' was held for the academic and invited teaching staff of TMA. During the training, participants were introduced to the importance of collaborative and interactive teaching methods and the ways of Flipped Classroom implementation within basic subjects.