Introductory course, 6 credits

The aim of the course is that the student should be able to describe, at a general level, health and unhealth, to introduce the student to the physician's activities and to give the student an overview of the medicine programme design at Karolinska Institutet. The aims relate to the general learning outcomes of the whole Study Programme in Medicine. Aims concerning knowledge and understanding are structured according to the SOLO taxonomy: S1) simple (e.g. know, identify), S2) compound (e.g. account for, describe), S3) related (e.g. analyse, relate to), and S4) extended (e.g. theorise, analyse). Practical skills outcomes are structured according to Miller: M1) know, M2) know how to carry out, M3) be able to show, and M4) be able to carry out professionally. Knowledge/understanding The student should be able to identify factors that contribute to maintaining health and also be able to relate these factors to one's own knowledge, convictions and experiences (S 4). have knowledge of basic disease processes and medical treatment. have knowledge of factors that affect the behaviour and also be able to relate these factors to one's own knowledge, convictions and experiences (s 4). be able to account for how knowledge of the causes and treatment of diseases can be changed radically in some decades only (S 2). at a general level know how the higher education is organised and how it is carried out, and specifically know how the medical education at Karolinska Institutet is structured (S1). be able to account for how of poverty, the organisation of society, social factors, environmental factors and living habits' may affect health and also how these factors may affect the disease panorama in our country as well as globally (S2). know how culture, ethnicity, gender and sex affect both health and un-health and the social consequences of diseases (S 2). have knowledge of the scientific grammar, the basics of evidence-based medicine and research ethics (S1). be able to define the concept of medicine (S3). be able to account for common recurrent behaviours in different phases of the development of a group (S2). be able to analyse previous own experiences in the development of different groups (S3). Skills The student should be able to decide if there is a respiratory and/or circulation stop (M3) carry out basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation in accordance with current national guidelines (M3). show ability to search and interpret medical information (S2). be able to describe different forms to give and take feedback (M2). be able to account for basic hygiene procedures concerning hand hygiene, gloves, protective clothing, and splash protection (S2, M2). Attitude The student should be familiar with the importance of art for the science (S2). know the importance of a scientific attitude within medicine (S3). be able to set up aims of one's learning, and be able to control it, and be able to evaluate it (M3). know that there are research-ethical issues within medical research (S2). start using the learning portfolio (S3).

In the course, the physician profession and the physician programme are presented. The student is also introduced to the meaning of professional and scientific attitudes. The course comprises a camp where the student is given an opportunity to get to know fellow students, students from previous courses and teachers and physicians. During the camp, group exercises are carried out, and a case-based ethics discussion is started. The student, who begins his/her first placement, follows a physician in the clinical practice (auscultation). The teaching in ethics and psychology is based on the student's experiences of the clinical environment. The student gets an introduction to nursing methodology, for example, in the form of an exercise in cardiopulmonary resuscitation at a clinical training center. (CTC). The physician's activities are presented both through the possibility for the student to meet physicians in the camp and by student participation in placement auscultation. Basic scientific questions are brought up in several parts, i. a. in connection with the overview of the development of medicine. This is illustrated i. a. by how basic scientific achievements have led to improved treatment. One day of the course is devoted to the part Group and Leadership where the students under supervision i. a. will work with goals, guidelines and feedback in the own group. The aim of the Group and Leadership day is to develop the student's ability to cooperate and communicate in groups and encourage the student to reflection on group dynamic processes. In the course, integrating assignments are used, which e. g. concern depression, overweight, heart arrest and seizure.

The course that is based on the student's own activity, comprises individual teaching, individual supervision and teaching in groups. Some of the parts are IT-supported.

The examination takes place through reflective portfolio sheets The student should be able to reflect both over his own learning and current parts of the course. If the portfolio sheets are insufficient, the student must make up, according to the instructions of the examiner. Compulsory parts: - Group and Leadership part - Cardiopulmonary resuscitation part - Placement in the primary care Limitation of examination and practical training sessions: The number of examination and practical training sessions follows the local guidelines of Karolinska Institutet, implying that the number of examinations is limited to 6, while placement, as a rule, may be repeated only once.

If a course has been closed down or undergone major changes, at least two additional examinations (excluding regular examinations) in the previous contents are provided during a period of a year from the date of the change.

Course evaluation is carried out according to Karolinska Institutet's guidelines. In the course, apart from Karolinska Institutet, also Södertörn University and Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts participate. The examiner may with immediate effect interrupt a student's placement if the student demonstrates such serious deficiencies in knowledge, skills or attitudes that patient safety or patient confidence in healthcare is at risk. If the placement is interrupted, it implies that the student fails in the current part. In such cases, an individual action plan should be set up, where it comes clear which activities and examinations are required, before the student is given the possibility to further placement.