What is Reparative Medicine?

Reparative medicine is a multidisciplinary field studying the regeneration and remodeling of tissue in vivo for the purpose of repairing, replacing, maintaining, and enhancing organ function, and the engineering and growing of functional tissue substitutes in vitro for their implantation in vivo as a biological substitute for damaged or diseased tissues and organs.

Thus, reparative medicine would allow the treatment of patients to be conducted in two levels: correction of immediate problems and restoration of normal physiological processes without any need for subsequent drug use.

It offers exciting possibilities in therapeutics of diverse human diseases based on the unique properties of the stem cells (embryonic or adult) to give rise to different kinds of tissues in the body. Moreover, being “self renewing”, these cells can be produced biotechnologically in a large scale.

As a result, new methods for repairing or substitution of tissues or cells damaged by injuries or diseases such as Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease as well as some more common ones like cardiomyopathy or diabetes can be put into practice.

Clinical research and potential future applications of stem cells raise important ethical and legislative problems in the world and The European Union, thus creating a strong need for research and education concerning this new branch of medicine. These necessities are reinforced by the diversity of the legal systems and amendments in the Member States, as well as by the newly adopted health care law in Bulgaria, where stem cells research was recently regulated.

Reparative medicine is a field marked by the unprecedented scientific advances in the recent years, thus representing a critical challenge to biomedical and clinical research and ethics. That’s why better understanding, wider social awareness and specialized education are crucial for the efforts to move this field rapidly forward to seek new ways in which these advances can provide better health and quality of life to people. The NOVAe-MED project is just one of the ways in which these advances can be promoted successfully.

Reparative Medicine and the Job Market

The existing professional qualification and skills of the medical specialists lack the innovative knowledge in different aspects of reparative medicine and its current legal status at national and European level. The newest information technology approach for introduction / refreshment of education in the target area is insufficient as well. All these reasons outline a major need for promotion of innovation in the European VET training system in respect to the reparative medicine by the ways and means of the R & D investment.

These needs were identified in the European Council Decision of January 25, 1999, adopting the specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration activities on the quality of life and the management of living resources. It has been developed further in November 2000 by the European Group on Ethics in Science & New Technologies (EGE).

Those deeds institutionally define the necessity for an optimized teaching / training system at an EU level, which could improve the abilities and the skills of the specialists working in the field of stem cells therapy and for keeping them in touch with the recent development in the field of biomedicine.

The creation of the NOVAe-MED training system will provide the knowledge and good practices in the project area and will contribute to the EU policies related to Health care, Social care, Biotechnology and Biomedicine. After assessing the identified needs, the outlined in the programme measures are expected to be applied in the partner countries.

NOVAe-MED– Primary Objectives

Reparative medicine, sometimes-referred to as regenerative medicine or tissue engineering, is at the forefront of the biomedical and clinical research. This fascinating field of contemporary medicine could provide new ways of restoring normal organ function and even engineering and growing tissue substitutes for replacement of damaged or deceased human organs, providing better health and quality of life to patients. However, recent developments in the field of reparative medicine pose various ethical and legislative problems to the European society, based on the diverse views regarding the moral and ethical aspect of using early embryos for research. Thus, the needs for a wider social awareness and innovative thinking of the professionals are required. In order to continue to move this field rapidly forward and to seek new ways in which these advances can provide better health opportunities for the society, there exists an increasing demand for improvement of the education in the area.

The “Innovative e-Learning in Reparative Medicine (NOVAe-MED)” project is answering these needs by developing an innovative e-learning programme in the field of reparative medicine for the improvement of the competence and skills of the professionals working in the target sectors, i.e. healthcare, biotechnology and biomedicine. The programme combines the ICT approach with the traditional forms of education, through which creates new learning pathways, and organizes learning groups and transnational virtual study circles.

NOVAe-MED – the Specific Steps

The following steps outline a simple and effective strategy for achieving the main project task during the project and post-project life:

• Investigation and analysis of the needs for training in the project field;

• A study of the ICT-based tools for learning and selection of the appropriate learning system;

• Creation of an ICT-based guide for preparation of teaching/training material;

• Design of an innovative e-learning programme for vocational training in the field of reparative medicine;

• Testing of the project results and analysis of the feedback, acquired from the end users in order to estimate the programme’s usefulness and applicability;

• Harmonization of the prior education of the entrants with the principles of The European Credit Transfer System (ECTS);

• Assessment of the innovative programme by authorized experts and organizations.

• Valorization activities for implementation of project results: dissemination and exploitation measures during project and post-project life.

• Initiatives for post-project life of the programme (joint actions with other EU programmes; thematic clusters formation, etc.).

These steps will guarantee the appropriate evaluation of the project and will ensure the potential success of the target users and sectors in using the project deliverables and understanding the project impact.

The Current Educational Trends

The current trends in the education are directed towards the use of information and communication technologies to improve learning – its content, applicability, structure, and on-market effectiveness. The purpose of the project’s initiative is to raise awareness of the state of research and innovative thinking in the field of learning. These improvements are likely to have a significant impact on the future practices both in the formal and non-formal sectors.

The current developments in the educational field have been linked to the fast invasion of various methods for obtaining the necessary qualification and refreshing the knowledge and the skills of the professionals working in a particular field. These methods include life-long learning, e-learning and on-the-job learning. The common tendency in all these learning methods is the flexibility of the learning environment and the adaptability of the methods and a job-linked content. People are encouraged to work and learn at the same time, to implement the knowledge they have acquired in the working process and to apply their professional experience during the educational process.

Another tendency in the educational process is the integration of the scientific, research and study approaches. These methods persuade to borrow style and content structure from business to improve e-learning, thus ensuring the vital communication link between industry and education. That way, the trainees can obtain the skills and competence necessary for a certain job or work position.

Combining all these educational approaches in an efficient way, the NOVAe-MED project is contributing to the improvement of the quality of education and is also raising the qualification and competence of people, working in the field of Reparative Medicine. The project introduces new approaches in the use of ODL technology with:

• involvement of novel relevant topics for introducing the newly developed technologies and applications in the field;

• flexibility of teaching methods in order to achieve adaptability and an efficient re-introduction of the results into new sectors;

• introduction of new learning tools in compliance with contemporary practices for information delivery (CD-R, guides, booklets).

This will contribute to the modernization and adaptation of the VET training system and will facilitate the development of a European knowledge-based society and economy.

NOVAe-MED Priorities

Considering the innovative strategy and the e-based content and structure that the project offers, we will put forward the following priorities that NOVAe-MED has:

• NOVAe-MED covers diverse subjects;

• NOVAe-MED is easy to use;

• NOVAe-MED is a novel learning platform that uses a variety of technologies to support and expand teaching practices.

• NOVAe-MED is an e-learning platform that provides individual students with unique educational experiences tailored closely to their personal profiles, interests and needs, and that has been developed enabling the key goals of personalization and adaptability to be met.

The programme is designed to be used in a variety of contexts, at a variety of places and by a variety of users – with different experience, qualification and background. The result is a training system that is more flexible and adaptable, leading to a more comprehensive e-learning environment that adapts content to the needs of specific users and job profiles.

The NOVAe-MED learning system aims at supporting a learning process, from which the target users can gain a richer and more dynamic educational experience.

To achieve its goals, NOVAe-MED incorporates a selection of different technologies, most of them developed by the project partners, ranging from context and location awareness to content delivery, communication and personal attitude.

NOVAe-MED offers a combinatory learning model through merging e-learning – for the structure of the training platform, with traditional education techniques – for selecting the appropriate content of the education materials. NOVAe-MED introduces e-learning methods for obtaining educational resources outside the classroom together with the traditional methods of collecting information, instructions and advice in the context of healthcare and reparative medicine.

Innovations

The main value of our project is oriented towards creating novel approaches and trends in the fast-developing sectors of reparative medicine and biotechnology.

The NOVAe-MED project is offering:

• innovative e-based training approach for education at sectorial level comprising advanced level of knowledge based on the R & D inventions and new relevant themes;

• promotion of the life-long principle of training – flexible and adaptable;

• implementation of actual and preventive measures to maintain the necessary key competence and to implement professional innovations;

• introduction of new approaches in the use of ODL technology;

• innovative thinking in the target field through introduction of new technologies into the training process.

• new tools for learning and documentation using contemporary practices for information delivery (CD-R, guides, booklets).

This way, the programme will contribute to solving the existing problems in that field, acquainting the target audience with the most recent innovative trends and the current legal status of this branch of the medicine. The innovative value will influence the whole process of modernization of the VET education.

Project Management Structure

The project management scheme is based on a specific structure of main and supporting units and a valorization unit. It will establish a European Vocational Training Consortium (EVTC) with a main task to govern, analyze and evaluate the overall project activities described in the operational phases. It will consolidate the programme with the end users, thus providing the target groups with training opportunities at a EU scale.

The project coordination will be accomplished by using unified measures for quality control, assessment and valorization. Measures for the continuation of the project life are envisaged as supporting activities for the management structures.

NOVAe-MED’s Impact

The integration of the results into the training systems and practices is realized through pilot testing and evaluation during the project life. The integration of Medical Universities, NGOs, SMEs as associated members of the project partnership will help the process of introduction of the innovative programme into the training practices.

The flexible format of the courses - designed as modules, short courses, and glossaries and the use of advanced methodological e-based approach will also facilitate the acceptance of the results on a national and European level. The use of ECTS evaluation practice for assessment of the project curriculum will give an opportunity for a national and transnational integration of project deliverables.

The activities for approval of the project results are an essential part of the overall project policy. They include the following:

• Successful integration of the project results into the national vocational training system with the additional use of the valorization activities.

• Expanding the project players beyond the project partnership by building a network of associated partners that are interested in the integration of the project results into the practice.

• Survey on the market demands on prospects for commercialization of project deliverables.