"EUROPEAN CULTURE": FEATURES OF TEACHING THE COURSE FOR FOREIGN MEDICAL STUDENTS

The main aspects of the teaching of the humanities in higher medical education in Ukraine in general and particularly in I.Horbachevsky Ternopil State Medical University are analyzed by the example of discipline “European culture”. The features of adaptation of foreign students to European (Ukrainian) socio-cultural space within the study of social sciences are defined. A few possible ways to improve the perception and studying learning material by foreign medical students are proposed. When considering the characteristics of training foreign students within the study of “European culture”, it should be noted that the teaching of this course must be adapted to the educational process with foreigners. It is meant to teach this discipline accessible to their level. It is noticed that even the simplest concepts and facts cause difficulties in perception and learning by foreign students. This is especially true for proper names, geographical features, names of historical and cultural values. In addition, it is necessary to define the range of scientific issues, topics, facts covered by "European culture". Since the curriculum provided study religious studies and ethics, which is part of the culture of each nation, the rate of "European culture" is called to unite few disciplines: history, culture, ethics, religion, local history. Therefore, stopping more on the specifics of teaching the course "European culture" for foreign medical students, we note that these features should be considered, taking into account three main aspects: linguistic, religious and cultural. We should note that it is extremely important and necessary to explain students the basic rules of behavior in society. It is necessary to bring foreign students some familiar to students rules such as: entering the room, student should remove the headgear; student should stand when older man, a stranger, or a new teacher comes into the classroom, which is the expression of respect; student should greet teachers, friends and strangers, in the classroom and outside the classroom. The teacher must draw parallels between European culture and the cultures of home countries of foreign students. The opportunity to compare European cultural features with the native cultures of students significantly facilitates and improves the understanding of international students. This kind of work appropriate to use educational innovations such as interactive sessions, “dialogue of cultures” to exchange information. It is important to try to find similarities in the cultural heritage of Ukraine and students' native cultures and emphasize them, but also to pay attention to the differences that could illustrate the uniqueness of each culture. This method of activating students' attention, encourages them to mental activity, comparison and analysis, increasing the level of attention and memory, facilitates the understanding of historical and cultural material of humanities disciplines.