Information on Studies Affected by Public Health Measures

Dear students,

I would like to clarify and briefly summarize information associated with your studies in connection with public health measures currently in place in the Czech Republic. I would like to present activities undertaken by faculty management, who are dedicated to minimizing the impact of the current situation on your studies, while also outlining possible scenarios for the foreseeable future. All previously announced Dean's Instructions remain in effect.

The most important piece of information is associated with the work requirement imposed (link only in Czech) on students of the final two years of General Medicine and the final year of General Nurse and Paramedic programmes. In accordance with the recently issued government resolution, the Faculty of Medicine shall provide a list of students who meet the above-mentioned criteria, as requested by the governor of the South Moravian region, who will subsequently decide on their employment as the current situation continues to develop. On behalf of the Faculty of Medicine, I would like to assure you that any such activities will be taken into consideration when allocating credits for clinical practice placements (especially for undergraduate students) in order to facilitate study progress and completion as best as possible.

· Vice-deans Petr Štourač, Luboš Křivan and Andrea Pokorná have been tasked with the individualized assessment and crediting of such placements, as well as with the potential planning of Advanced Master's state examinations and final state examinations.

Until further notice, all teaching activities will be implemented primarily in the form of distance learning (pending possible changes in public health measures). This applies in full to theoretical and preclinical courses, courses which require no direct contact with patients and, to a large extent, also to clinical courses which fall under General Medicine, Stomatology and non-medical programmes.

· Various e-learning tools may be used instead, including those found in the IS MU as well as third-party tools.
· Vice-deans for studies Kateřina Kaňková, Petr Štrourač, Luboš Křivan, Lydie Izakovičová Hollá and Andrea Pokorná are in contact with course guarantors. Maximum technical support is provided by the Centre for Information and Communication Technologies, the Institute of Biostatistics and Analyses of the Faculty of Medicine and IS MUNI e-technicians.
· In case they have not yet done so, your course guarantors will contact you in the coming days to specify course completion requirements (in case these should differ from existing standards).

With the exception of students and programmes indicated in the work requirement imposed by the government resolution (see above), the teaching of clinical courses will be postponed for the time being. In the case of selected courses, classroom teaching may be replaced by simulation education, implemented with the help of available technologies. However, as clinical teaching – even in abbreviated form – is highly desirable in the case of some programmes (e.g. General Medicine and Stomatology), we will have to await further developments. I assure you that replacement clinical teaching will be planned and implemented as soon as possible. Access to laboratories and research facilities is limited to undergraduate and doctoral students engaged in labour-law relationships with MU; while I must insist on this requirement, I am convinced that you and your supervisors will be able to locate and develop adequate alternatives on an individual basis.

Self-study using all available electronic resources and literature is essential, and I would like to invite you to make the best possible use of the time available. Fortune favours the prepared mind, so as soon as normal operation resumes – and with it all traditional examination formats – you should be able to quickly make up for any lost time. The Masaryk University Campus Library website includes a clear and detailed guide to working with available electronic resources; furthermore, your course guarantors may also help you refine essential study literature.

For the duration of this semester, we will attempt to modify examinations – the traditional scourge of our Faculty's students – so that they may be implemented without difficulties, possibly within a limited time frame (but with a sufficient number of available dates) and most likely with fewer oral examinations. However, please do not expect any lowering of the proverbial bar! For the time being, it is possible to carry out individual examinations, including state examinations, as long as hygienic measures required by the Department of Public Health are adhered to. Guidelines governing final thesis submission and thesis defence procedures by students of non-medical degree programmes will be provided by individual degree programme guarantors, who have been instructed to focus on electronic options and encouraged to employ a flexible approach.

All scholarship categories will continue to be paid out in full while all tuition fees will likewise continue to be calculated in accordance with existing regulations. Although graduation ceremonies will likely be cancelled, I am looking forward to organizing a perhaps less formal but all the more cordial event for our graduates as soon as possible!
In case you are still searching for answers to your questions, please refer to this FAQ sheet.

Sincerely,
Martin Repko