STAKEHOLDER ASSESSMENT OF PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE ACQUIRED DURING VOCATIONAL EDUCATION OF MEDICAL LABORATORY WORKERS

Abstract

Designing and filling in the educational program (EP) involves determining the list of competencies of the “ideal graduate” for the industry. Assessment of the success of the EP implementation is determined by the achievement of program learning outcomes and the readiness of the EP applicant for professional activity. An important tool for state certification of medical personnel is passing the theoretical exam “KROK”, which reflects the effectiveness of knowledge acquisition. To a large extent, the success of mastering practical skills can be demonstrated by the results of an objective structured clinical exam – OSKI and exams in the disciplines of the graduation course. For the OP in the direction of laboratory diagnostics, an effective criterion for achieving program learning outcomes is also the assessment by stakeholders of the practical competencies of a graduate who first got a job in a medical laboratory. The purpose of work was to analyze the results of the assessment by stakeholders of the practical component of the professional competence of laboratory workers in the position of a paramedic-laboratory assistant or laboratory assistant (medicine) in the field of health care and in the position of a laboratory assistant-intern in the context of program learning outcomes and their achievement by OP graduates Materials and methods. A questionnaire was developed for data collection, which was validated to determine the level of specialists’ competencies in points using a digital scale. The data were analyzed using the coefficients of univariate logistic regression models. The questionnaire was distributed among healthcare institutions that are identified and approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine as internship bases for interns. Employees of private laboratories that have an agreement on cooperation in the field of educational services with educational institutions were also involved. The list of competencies of laboratory assistants was formed on the basis of the axis of professional competencies defined by the structure of the state exam “Step B”. The assessment of the competencies of intern laboratory assistants is oriented towards the basic requirements for the position defined in the Handbook of Qualification Characteristics of Employee Professions (Issue 78 “Health Care”), approved by the order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated March 29, 2002 No. 117, as well as the quality system standard DSTU EN ISO 15189:2022 “Medical Laboratories. Requirements for Quality and Competence”. 87% of experienced professionals believe that during their studies, bachelor’s degree applicants successfully acquire competencies for independent work as a paramedic-laboratory assistant, 2.6% consider the training of applicants to be of very high quality. 10% of professionals are dissatisfied with the professional training of bachelor’s degree applicants. A similar opinion was expressed by stakeholders in relation to the educational training of master’s degree applicants: 88% of respondents believe that applicants are prepared for practical work satisfactorily and well, 3% consider the training of applicants to be of very high quality, 9% are not satisfied with master’s degree applicants in the workplace. The leading competency that had a decisive impact on the overall suitability for work for paramedics-laboratories is considered by stakeholders to be the ability to collect and verify data, receive and process samples according to protocols (AUC=0.84 95% CI 0.72 – 0.97) (p= 0.004, HV = 0.28 (95% CI 0.12 – 0.66). For masters, professionals identified the competency – planning, conducting, analyzing the results of intra-laboratory quality control (AUC=0.827 95% CI 0.67 – 0.98) (p= 0.018, HV = 0.36 (95% CI 0.16– 0.83). We believe that the data obtained will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of educational programs in laboratory diagnostics at different levels (master’s and bachelor’s), as well as identify effective ways improvement of the educational process.