WorldSkills Poland is an initiative that encourages young people to improve their professional skills, and promotes the latest developments in vocational education and training. The finals of the WorldSkills Poland qualifiers in the "Healthcare" category were held on January 27-29 this year at the MUW Ciołka Campus.
- This unusual event was organized in Poland for the first time. Never before have young people under the age of 25 had the chance to face each other in a competence competition in the field of healthcare, where the prize is to join the EuroSkills national team - says Dr. Lena Serafin from the Department of Clinical Nursing MUW, the main expert of WorldSkills Poland in the "Healthcare" category.
The first stage of the competition was a knowledge test in the field of nursing. Then the selected finalists presented their competence in patient care in the home environment, in the outpatient clinic and in the hospital. The patient was played by a professional actor. Care was evaluated both in the area of professional competence and so-called soft competencies. An additional challenge for the contestants was the need to speak English. The winners were selected by a five-member jury. The winner was Magdalena Szymańska, a second-year nursing student at MUW. Angeli Malewska, a student at the Medical University of Warsaw and Julia Tajchreber, a student at the Medical University of Lublin, also stood on the podium. Prizes and awards were presented by Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong, Rector of MUW, and Dr. Paweł Poszytek, Director General of the Foundation for the Development of the Education System.
The event was organized by the Foundation for the Development of Education Systems, Medical University of Warsaw and the Medical University in Wrocław. The finals of the competition were organized at MUW thanks to the commitment of Prof. Pawel Włodarski, Vice Rector for International Relations, Development and promotion of the Medical University of Warsaw, and Łukasz Czyżewski,MD, PhD, Vice Dean for Nursing, as well as Lena Serafin, PhD, RN, and Karolina Prasek, PhD.
Winning the qualifiers ensured Magdalena a place in the group of contestants from Poland who will take part in the EuroSkills Gdansk 2023 competition in November, the largest event in Europe to promote vocational training and skills improvement. The competition will feature 600 competitors from 32 countries. They will participate in more than 40 competitions. Magdalena will compete in the "Health & Social Care" category. This is the first time in the history of the EuroSkills competition that our country will be represented in this competition. Now Magdalena will take part in a training program lasting several months. The expert responsible for preparing the contestant for the EuroSkills competition is Dr. Lena Serafin.
In addition to Prof. Zbigniew Gaciong and Dr. Paweł Poszytek, the award ceremony, which took place on January 29, was also attended by Prof. Paweł Włodarski, Vice Rector for International Relations, Development and Promotion, Prof. Mariusz Gujski, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, Łukasz Czyżewski, MD, PhD, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences for Nursing, Zofia Małas, President of the Supreme Council of Nurses and Midwives, and Anna Dudzińska, Chairwoman of the Warsaw District Chamber of Nurses and Midwives.
