FORMATION OF CRITICAL THINKING OF MEDICAL STUDENTS AS A COMPONENT OF THE EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IN A HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION

In the global practice of critical thinking development, many techniques, methods, and programs have been developed, each of which leads to the desired result. When using different techniques for developing critical thinking, teachers face a number of difficulties in specific situations, including the age of the subjects of the learning process, the academic discipline in which critical thinking is being formed, the psychological climate within the collective, and the form of organizing the learning process. Therefore, for each case, the techniques will represent a set of tasks (techniques, methods) that are part of a specific criterion for developing critical thinking. The methods of developing critical thinking include the following: technology for developing critical thinking through reading and writing, insert, cluster, mind map, fish-bone technique, question cube, question daisy, cinquain, «thick» and «thin» question technique, «Six Thinking Hats», «Lotus Flower», «Predictions Tree (Decisions)», creating problematic situations, case studies, essay writing, incomplete sentence technique, knowledge building technique, etc. This article will focus on the most commonly used techniques for developing critical thinking in medical students studying the subject of pathomorphology at the Department of Pathological Anatomy of Bukovinian State Medical University. The aim – to justify the appropriateness of using different methods of developing critical thinking in a higher education medical institution, as well as their implementation in the educational process of students studying the discipline «pathomorphology». Conclusions. Critical thinking is a crucial factor for success in the XXIst century. It is the art of analysis, scientific thinking, and making well-thought-out and independent decisions. Critical thinking represents a distinct type of thinking characterised by activity, purposefulness, independence, discipline, and reflection. In the process of educating medical students, it involves the development of the ability to identify problems, analyse, synthesise, assimilate information from any source, propose alternatives and evaluate them, choose the method of problem- solving or their own position and justify their views, make conscious choices and take action. A future doctor should possess critical thinking skills in order to quickly develop a treatment strategy in emergency situations. It is important introducing education that fosters the development of critical thinking (solving real problems and students making decisions in various situations) and provide sound reasons for choosing the most appropriate methods, techniques, forms, and means of teaching.