Healthcare qualifications practice for B&H

Abstract

The implementation of National Qualifications Frameworks presents many challenges for the many stakeholders, including programme designers, professors, education providers, awarding bodies and of course the student body. A core dimension to the success or otherwise of national frameworks is the link between them and the issue of quality. Quality systems are now common place and in this paper, we will explore if the elements of a qualification framework can lead to a more effective quality system. The research in this paper produces data on how the Baseline of the QF in B&H is perceived and used by healthcare professionals and the views of medical students who are final beneficiaries of its use. The research was conducted as part of Tempus project Bosnia and Herzegovina Qualification Framework for Higher Education financed by European Commission (2013-2017). In particular, we will examine if elements such as modularisation and the development of learning outcomes at the programme and module levels are beneficial to a quality system for the higher education system. The research was undertaken within the emerging Bosnia Herzegovina framework for the higher education sector. It is very much a pilot for what we hope will be a much larger exercise once the framework is more firmly established. Indeed, it would appear that there is a substantial gap between the aims and objectives of the Baseline of the QF in B&H, and the reality of its impact on learning and academic practice as evidenced by the views of the two groups in this study.