Modernization of Higher Vocational Education on the Example of Medical Universities: Features of IT Implementation

The need to assess the possibilities and prospects of IT in medical education has determined the relevance of the study, the purpose of which was to consider the experience of introducing information technologies into the educational process of medical universities. A total of 322 students and 169 teachers took part in an anonymous online survey. The research design involved two major research units, namely the theoretical and experimental ones, which consisted of several successive stages. The psychological consequences of introducing information technologies into the educational process were studied using valid psychodiagnostic methods. As a result of the study it was found that possible obstacles to the expansion of the use of IT to teach medical students clinical disciplines are inadequate technological infrastructure, lack of adequate curricula, and students' lack of independent work and self-discipline skills. The distance learning experience was generally assessed as positive with an average level of satisfaction. The main positive aspects of introducing information technology and distance learning in medical education are timesaving and flexibility of classes. The limitations of the study were related to the problem of conducting the study in a pandemic environment, so it was conducted online.