Course objective: To present the special features of gynecological endoscopy to students in their clinical practice

Course content: Gynecological endoscopy: past and present, Equipment, Hysteroscopy (indications-contraindications-complications-technique), Laparoscopy (indications-contraindications-complications-technique), pathologic entities with special endoscopic management: abnormal uterine bleeding – infertility – ovarian cysts – endometriosis – congenital uterine malformations –pelvic pain, Transvaginal laparoscopy, hyperspectral hysteroscopy

Teaching: Lectures and participation in endoscopic surgery (either as observers or assistants) both in the operating theatre and in the outpatient clinic. Students should be finally able to assess feasibility of endoscopic surgery, understand the equipment set up and orient during an endoscopic procedure

Hours of training per student: 26

From the 7th Semester

ECTS: 2

Necessity of the course: Empathy becomes increasingly crucial in medical practice and during doctor patient encounters. It might be the next revolution in health care (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BKN7RFhdq4). About 100 medical schools in Europe, according to the Tuning-Medicine Project, agreed that each medical graduate should be able to empathize their patients, to see the world through their patients' eyes as if he/ she was him/ her, without losing the 'as if" condition- (empathy, https://www.tuning-medicine.com/pdf/booklet.pdf, page 17, Professional attribute 4). Medical graduate's learning outcomes, formed after long process of the network of 100 medical schools MEDINE, voted on by the general meeting and validated by an external panel of experts and presented to the European Commission of the European Union (where the above , pages 9-11). In light of this, teaching empathy is an obligation of our department. An elective course does not fully cover our obligation is, but we need to start in this way, even in a pilot phase.

Objectives of the course: Reconceptualization of the core mission of medicine, identifying the patient as a whole. The global approach of the importance of the doctor patient relationship, the awareness of the obstacles occurred while trying to build a trustful relationship with the patients, the core elements which facilitate the empathic responses. Person-centered, and not disease-centered philosophy of medicine, and the identification of this newly established dimension during doctor patient encounters among validated bibliographic sources.
Contents of the course: The importance of the communication skills and the non-verbal communication. Theory of the person-centered approach and the basic principles of the person-centered medicine. Techniques while conducting a person-centered interview and medical history taking. Medical empathy. Theory of bereavement and breaking bad news techniques empathetically.

Teaching Methods: 60-hour experiential seminar, separated in three 20-hour workshops, approximately three weeks apart from each other. The course is taught in a completely experiential way. No further study needed. Theory and practice are mixed and students integrate the theoretic components through experience. Encounter groups, personal growth experiential exercises, case studies, study groups, role play (group of three students) are the didactic approaches. Strictly limited places available: 18 students per semester.

Learning outcomes: At the end of the course students should be able to listen actively, to identify the non-verbal components of the patients' behavior, to empathize with them and their relatives, their colleagues and their own selves as well, to identify patients' concerns and the stress factors of their patients and record them, to conduct a person-centered interview. Students should be able to trace and not disenfranchise the emotional and effective elements that each patient deals with while suffering from a disease and build a trustful, secure and empathic relationship. Last but not least, students should be able to relate meaningfully and respectfully with their patients, identifying at the same time their own needs and boundaries avoiding the burnout possibilities.

Teaching hours per student: 60

Teaching Semester: 7th

ECTS: 2

Objectives of the course: It is students' acquaintance with metabolic (or functional) imaging, which is the field of practice of the specialty of Nuclear Medicine. The course also includes a section on radioimmunoassay diagnosis (RIA-IRMA in vitro) and the administration of radioisotopes for therapeutic purposes.

Course content: The teaching approach is to describe the major diagnostic and therapeutic radioisotopic methods used in Nuclear Medicine, the specialty of medicine that uses radioactive isotopes for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. This concept involves the use of specific drugs, which are labeled with radioactive tracers. These complexes are called radiopharmaceuticals and emit radiation in the form of gamma-rays, alpha or beta particles.

The diagnostic aspect of Nuclear Medicine consists of scintigraphic (in vivo) imaging and radioimmunological (in vitro) assays. Scintigraphy constitutes a functional imaging modality, which provides unique diagnostic information. The procedure begins with the –usually intravenous– administration of a radiopharmaceutical, followed by the acquisition of images in an appropriate imaging modality called gamma-camera. The images recorded from various organs of the human body reflect on the pattern of each radiotracer uptake and metabolism, thus illustrating the functional status of the tissue and organ being tested.

The radioimmunological (in vitro) applications of Nuclear Medicine involve the use of radioactive tracers in the measurement of various substances and hormones in the blood serum, without the patient being exposed to radiation.

Finally, the therapeutic application of Nuclear Medicine involves the administration of radiopharmaceuticals that emit particles. These are concentrated selectively in the targeted-for therapy tissue, irradiating it "internally" and thereby causing increased cell destruction, aiming at therapy.

Mode and outcomes of teaching: The course includes theoretical tutorials, followed by clinical and laboratory practice at the Department of Nuclear Medicine, in small groups of students. Students become familiar with the basic principles of the faculty (i.e. preparation of radiopharmaceuticals , principles of radiation protection, demonstration of gamma-camera operation, scintigraphic imaging, medical reporting of the scintigraphic studies).The training is enhanced by the analysis and discussion of representative cases of the most common scintigraphic examinations (e.g. scintigraphy of the thyroid gland, skeleton, myocardium , kidneys, lungs, etc.), as well as the main therapeutic applications of Nuclear Medicine (e.g. administration of radioiodine in benign and malignant thyroid diseases , palliative therapy in patients with multiple painful metastases to the bones etc.).

Hours of training per student: 30

From the 7th Semester

ECTS: 2