Knut Lönnroth is teaching at the new 6-year medical programme
The Department of Global Public Health is involved in several courses of the new 6-year medical programme that began autumn 2021 and Knut Lönnroth is one of the professors who have been teaching during the first weeks of the autumn semester.
KI is one of seven Swedish Universities authorised to issue medical degrees and this autumn KI has launched the new 6-year medical programme. GPH contributes to the progression of generic competencies around Public Health, Health Promotion, Global Health, Equity in Health, Health Care Organization and Health Economy.
We have interviewed Knut Lönnroth, one of the professors who have been teaching during the first weeks of the new medical programme.
Tell us about the new 6-year medical programme?
“A major change compared to the previous medical programme is that the new 6-year programme leads to a medical license instead of a medical degree. Previously, you had to do an internship (allmäntjänstgöring, AT) before receiving the license, but after this new 6-year education, you can immediately start your specialization, in the same way as in many other EU countries.
Another change is that the new national goals, which should be fulfilled by all Universities, have a greater focus on Public Health, Health Promotion, Global Health, and Health- and Medical Care Organization. The pedagogic approach will also change, with clearer elements of team-based learning and more active learning with group works”, says Knut Lönnroth, professor Department for Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet.
What impact will the programme have on students’ future careers?
“The new medical programme will make it possible to faster start to practice with a medical license and to start the specialization. This should also improve the international mobility for specialist training, especially amongst EU countries. We also wish that more people will be interested in a career within social medicine and public health. However, this requires that these subjects are given the right importance, needed to achieve the national goals”, explains Knut.
What do you look forward to in the future?
“I feel very inspired already after the first weeks of the first course of the new programme. The students seem committed and the close collaboration between teachers from several different departments and disciplines has worked extremely well – I’m looking forward to continuing this!”
Detailed planning of future courses is ongoing, and the idea is that subjects linked to public health, global health, and health- and medical care organization should be integrated in all semesters. Of course, there is a risk that these subjects will be marginalized because of the importance to ensure sufficient scope for the clinical competences. Integration is necessary, though sometimes it can be double-edged since it risks being done at the expense of the overall picture that can be conveyed through a coherent course. There will be some intense upcoming years to get everything in place!