THE PLACE OF MEDICAL HUMANITIES IN MEDICAL EDUCATION IN LITHUANIA

The process of professional education and training general education, realized in non-specialty curriculum, is oriented towards three domains: development of cognitive competence, development of personal, professional and social competence. The medical humanities include a broad spectrum of disciplines and offer great potential for enhancing professional and humanistic development in medical education. It is obvious that medical education at university first and foremost focuses on the technical, instrumental health care practice rather than on the development of practical wisdom that relates to moral efforts identifying and evaluating the situation. Lithuanian University of Health Sciences is currently in the process of taking an essential step towards the transition from the traditional concept of professional education and training towards the academic university education. Traditional approach of professional education and training stressed the person's readiness for a particular working place while the aim of universities is to provide students with universal education which embraces a broad scope of scientific knowledge and also stimulates the development of the personal and social competence.