Evaluation of the Professional programme in Medicine

NOKUT is conducting an evaluation of the Professional programmes in Medicine in Norway. The programmes are available at NTNU, the University of Bergen, the University of Oslo, and UiT – The Arctic University of Norway. The evaluation started in January 2023, and the final report will be published in February 2025. Evaluating the quality of higher education in Norway forms part of NOKUT’s work to assure quality in education and stimulate quality enhancement.

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The evaluation objectives

The evaluation will generate knowledge about the quality of the Professional programmes in Medicine and facilitate quality enhancement. It should provide arenas for the exchange of knowledge and experiences, identify key challenges, and provide recommendations on quality enhancement.

The evaluation context

In line with the national evaluation framework (see nasjonalt rammeverk for evaluering av forskning og høyere utdanning), NOKUT is to coordinate the evaluation of the Professional programmes in Medicine with the Research Council of Norway (see Evaluation of medicine and health sciences). Predictability, limiting the workload of the institutions, and contributing to the use of updated information about quality in research and higher education are expected outcomes of this coordination effort.

NOKUT’s evaluations are rooted in the European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the Higher Education Area (ESG 2015). The standards and guidelines have been incorporated in NOKUT’s Principles for external evaluations.

The evaluation process

The evaluation should be useful for those working with the Professional programmes in Medicine, and the evaluation is therefore co-designed with stakeholders. Dialogue is facilitated through input meetings and through the evaluation’s reference group.

Evaluation data will include the universities’ self-assessments with documentation, digital site visits, surveys, registry data from DBH and data from the National Student Survey. It may also include other quantitative and qualitative data.

Input meetings

Digital input meetings with stakeholders were held in January and February 2023. The stakeholders were invited to raise issues that they would like the evaluation to examine, and they were invited to suggest what kinds of competencies and experience NOKUT should include in the expert panel.

Expert panel

The evaluation’s expert panel is responsible for assessments of educational quality and for writing the final evaluation report. NOKUT is responsible for the evaluation methodology, for data collection and for administrative support. The composition of the panel is based on input from stakeholders and is in line with the Principles for NOKUT’s external evaluations. The participating universities were given the opportunity to comment on the proposed panel.

The expert panel comprises:

  • Committee leader Berit Eika, University director, Aarhus university
  • Anette Fosse, Director of Norwegian Centre for Rural Medicine, UiT – Norway’s Arctic University
  • Maja Elisabeth Mikkelsen, student representantive, NTNU
  • Riitta Möller, associate professor, Karolinska Institutet
  • Arne Tjølsen, professor, University of Bergen
  • Trond Vartdal, Oslo University Hospital

Reference group

In addition to the expert panel, the evaluation also includes a reference group. The group includes four representatives from each of the four study programmes, as well as representatives from the regional health authorities, the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), the Norwegian Medical Association, and the Norwegian Medical Student Association. The reference group will provide input and feedback at key stages of the evaluation process.

The self-assessment

The self-assessment form will be discussed with the external reference group. NOKUT will encourage the universities to facilitate an inclusive process for work on the self-assessment responses, in order to promote dialogue around key challenges and opportunities for quality enhancement. The self-assessment should be supported by relevant documentation.

The site visits

The site visit is digital and runs for two days. The expert panel will lead each visit and will interview key persons attached to the Professional programme in Medicine. This may for example include programme heads, departmental or faculty leadership, teaching staff, administrative staff, students, and important external partners such as representatives from university hospitals.

Tentative milestones

Time Aktivity
January 2023 NOKUT conducts input meetings with stakeholders
March 2023 The institutions receive the proposal for the expert panel
April 2023 Reference group meeting about proposed evaluation themes and questions
May/June 2023 NOKUT publishes the evaluation themes and questions
August 2023 Reference group meeting about the proposed self-assessment form
September/December 2023 The universities write their self-assessment
February 2024 NOKUT hosts a seminar for evaluation participants
April 2024 The expert panel completes digital site visits
December 2024 The universities receive the draft for the final report
February 2025 NOKUT publishes the final report

Contact NOKUT

If you have any input or inquiries, please contact project leader Inger-Lise Kalviknes Bore.

 

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