Pediatrics training
Teaching of pediatrics for medical students is conducted during the winter and summer semesters of the fifth year in a total of 210 hours – 90 hours of lectures and 120 hours of practical exercises. The course of study ends with a semester exam. Since the academic year 2008/2009, the discipline has been taught according to the same curriculum and in English for foreign students.
Habilitated lecturers from the department conduct training in pediatrics for students from the Faculty of Dental Medicine, the Faculty of Public Health and the Medical College. The training is carried out in the following specialties: "Dental Medicine", "Nurse", "Midwife", "Rehabilitator", "Medical Laboratory Assistant", "X-ray Laboratory Assistant", "Social Activities", "Public Health Inspector", "Health Assistant" and "Patient Caregiver". In the academic year 2014, distance learning in pediatrics and medical genetics for medical students was launched. A hall with modern technical equipment, allowing interactive training and conference calls, has been provided for practical exercises.
The pre-graduate internship in pediatrics is carried out in the specialized clinical structures of the department. Its duration is 51 calendar days and ends with passing a state exam. The educational and medical activity of the interns is supervised by a habilitated person, appointed by the head of the department. The main forms of training are main and sitting visits in the profiled clinics, weekly seminar classes, presentation of clinical cases, thematic reviews, etc. Since 2007, the department has been training students under the Erasmus program, and for several years – students on scientific exchange under the AMSB program.
An additional form of training is the conduct of a lecture and practical course in the optional subject "Rare Diseases in Pediatrics ", which is traditionally held during the summer semester of the fifth year.
Postgraduate studies
The Department of Pediatrics conducts postgraduate training in "Pediatrics" for specializing doctors. It includes training by state order, paid specialization by state order, individual training and thematic courses. Since 2021, a State Commission for Awarding a Specialty in Pediatrics has been established at the Department. All habilitated teachers participate in state committees for awarding pediatric specialties.
Currently, the department is a base for training doctors specializing in all narrow pediatric specialties - pediatric endocrinology and metabolic diseases, pediatric clinical hematology and oncology, pediatric pneumology and phthisiology, pediatric cardiology, pediatric rheumatology, pediatric gastroenterology, pediatric nephrology and pediatric neurology. The department is also a base for conducting a module "Pediatrics" for doctors specializing in "General Medicine" and for doctors specializing in "Nutrition and Dietetics".
As a training base, the Department also provides an opportunity to update knowledge on the main childhood diseases with its specialized courses and individual training . The courses last from three days to three months and include lectures and thematic classes for acquiring practical skills on announced topics. Traditionally, the Department has as an invariable form of postgraduate training the weekly collegiums, the main and sitting visits to clinics and departments. The specialists of the Department organize their own training with the presentation of difficult clinical cases once a month.
Teaching aids
Recommended reading
- Illustrated Textbook of Paediatrics, Fifth edition, 2017. Eds. T. Lissauer, W. Carroll , 6th edition, 2021 ISBN: 978-0-7234-3871-7
- Illustrated Textbook of Paediatrics, Eds. T. Lissauer, W. Carroll. (Bulgarian translation, Lax Book Publishing House)
- Nelson textbook of Pediatrics , 20th revised edition. Robert M. Kliegman , V. S tanton, J. St . Groan. Elsevier, 2016
- Nelson Essentials of Pediatrics, 7th Edition With student consultation Online Access. Karen Marcdante, and Robert M. Kliegman, 2015
- Propaedeutics of childhood diseases edited by Assoc. Prof. Dr. P. Miteva-Shumnalieva, MD, Assoc. Prof. Dr. D. Avdzhieva-Tzavella, MD, Prof. Dr. I. Litvinenko, MD. Medicon Events, 2023, second supplemented edition ISBN: 978-619-91897-0-2
- Textbook of Pediatrics – edited by Prof. Dr. I. Litvinenko, MD 2019, Sofia
