SPECIFICS OF SELECTING AND EXPERIENCE OF IMPLEMENTATING DISTANCE LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF HISTOLOGY, CYTOLOGY AND EMBRYOLOGY OF IVANO-FRANKIVSK NATIONAL MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

Because of COVID-19 spreading since March 2020, European countries began to introduce quarantine measures that inevitably led to the closure of all educational institutions. In the context of globalization and the development of the Internet, opportunities for lifelong education and self-education have appeared and are rapidly evolving. In particular, distance learning is available for a large audience including self-education-oriented learners and teachers, as well as can improve the qualification levels of specialists. The learners can reside in different geographic regions, represent different ethnic groups and cultures, but they are all united by one desire to update and expand their knowledge, improve practical skills. Most of medical universities in Ukraine had to modify their courses for distance learning format in a short time. The readiness for this process was different for each university: both purely technical problems arose, mainly due to the lack of the Internet in rural areas, out-of-date computers, no specially prepared educational and methodological materials and guidance on the one hand, and difficulties associated with no experience in organizing this form of education, on the other. To conduct all forms of training at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University in quarantine restrictions, various interactive teaching techniques were chosen in the form of videoconferences, organized by using the corporate Microsoft Teams platform. This teamwork centre brings together chat, appointments, notes and attachments in its workspace. This teamwork platform brings together chat, appointments, notes and attachments in its workspace. On this platform, in the form of webinars, the heads of the information department of the University conducted training for educators sharing practical recommendations for organizing distance learning. Scientific and pedagogical staff of the Department of Histology, Cytology and Embryology managed effectively enough to adapt educational distance learning technologies for the study and knowledge of the students of the microscopic and ultramicroscopic structure of the structures of the human body, its development and changes in the different conditions to develop and boost their general and professional medical competence. Distance learning can be considered a very promising form of organizing the educational process in the context of life-long learning. In the medical field, due to the large number of practical skills at the undergraduate stage and the complexity of their development remotely, the maximum effectiveness of this form of education is currently presented when receiving correspondence pharmaceutical education and postgraduate advanced training of doctors.