The purpose of the study was to reveal the features of the competence approach to the study and assimilation of knowledge in histology, cytology and embryology by students of higher medical education. Materials and methods. Analysis, generalization and systematization of information of scientific and methodical work were used in the study. Results and discussion. A competence approach to the educational process is an approach that clearly outlines the competencies that must be acquired and implemented in real life during future professional activity. Today, medical institutions of higher education combine traditional and innovative teaching methods. The acquisition of professional competencies is more effective due to the application of the latest learning technologies and the introduction of modern methodological approaches in the study of theoretical and clinical disciplines. The latest methods and technologies provide a personally oriented approach to learning, develop critical thinking, cognitive activity, contribute to self-improvement and self-education of the future doctor. In the process of training, medical students acquire the following competencies: integral – the ability to solve tasks and problems in professional health care activities; general – the ability to apply knowledge in practical situations and professional activities; special – the ability to determine the structural components of organs and systems; the ability to use the acquired knowledge for further diagnosis of pathological changes in the clinic; the ability to evaluate the results of laboratory tests, make a diagnosis, determine the nature of treatment; skills in performing medical manipulations, etc. When determining the forms of pedagogical activity at the Department of Histology, Cytology, and Embryology, the competence approach to the study of histology is preferred. A competence approach to education is the key to students acquiring high-quality knowledge, skills and abilities that will meet the modern needs of the medical field and the expectations of patients. The examples of the methods used to develop competencies among students include the method of working with material in small groups, evaluating advantages and disadvantages and the method of comparisons (searching for common and distinctive features when determining and comparing histological structures). Conclusion. Thanks to the competence approach to education, the tasks set for higher medical education students are successfully implemented: acquiring professional competencies, acquiring quality knowledge, abilities and skills, forming clinical thinking, developing communication, mental and practical abilities, which will facilitate the adaptive process of future doctors

The article elucidates the directions of the guidance provided by experienced mentors to young lecturers at the Department of Histology, Cytology and Embryology of the Poltava State Medical University as one of the forms of professional training, social support and training of future specialists in the medical field. Special attention is paid to the main conditions for the effectiveness of mentorship; it has been emphasized that mentoring itself is a two-way process, when the mentor transfers professional knowledge, personal experience, skills and abilities that will allow the young teachers to adapt quickly. It has been found that mentoring is a personnel technology of departments of medical universities that enables continuous professional development of young lecturers and instructors. The urgent need for mentoring appears especially acute today, as rapid changes in the system of higher medical education and their introduction in organizational processes and the educational environment require an immediate response from teaching staff. Mentoring at the department of Histology, cytology, and embryology combines the professional development and a comprehensive approach to each young scientific and pedagogical worker. Discussion on the implementation of the mentoring program at the department of Histology, cytology and embryology of the Poltava State Medical University is the most important condition in the professional development of young educators, in improving pedagogical skills; it is also significant in the professional orientation of medical students. Mentoring today is not a popular trend, but a conscious necessity, which has proven the invaluable social and pedagogical influence of highly qualified mentors on young educators who ensure consistency between theoretical and practical training of future healthcare professionals.

The purpose of the study was to reveal the essence of an integrated approach to teaching fundamental disciplines as a key factor in the professional training of medical students. Materials and methods. Analysis, generalization and systematization of scientific and methodological literature were used in the study. Results and discussion. Integration significantly changes the content and structure of modern scientific knowledge, intellectual and conceptual capabilities of certain sciences. It is the most important means of achieving the unity of knowledge in the content, structural, scientific, organizational, and pedagogical aspects. Integration in the fundamental fields arose on the background of differentiation of sciences and detailing of specialties, the growing amount of knowledge and requirements for it in each individual field. Integration between academic disciplines is aimed at deepening the interconnections between subjects and is a way to improve it. The interdisciplinary integration of basic disciplines in higher medical institutions provides for a unified approach of the teaching staff of different disciplines to solving common educational problems based on the generalization of knowledge by students. Histology, cytology, embryology and human anatomy as disciplines that study the structure and morphological variations of the human body are perceived from the viewpoint of modern science as the basis of medicine, physiology and pathology, which has been gradually formed since ancient times and up to the current day. Such a close relation between the micro- and macro-structure of the body is consistent and logical in the study of two fundamental disciplines, it becomes possible to transfer theoretical knowledge, practical skills and abilities from one discipline to another. Creating interdisciplinary connections contributes to deeper learning and repetition of previously studied material, and properly organized integration plays both an educational and an upbringing role. The interdisciplinary integration of two fundamental disciplines such as Histology, Cytology and Embryology with Human Anatomy is a necessary component of the training of a future doctor. The use of such interdisciplinary technologies for training a doctor allows to raise him/her to a qualitatively new level of clinical thinking, capable of solving the problems of medical practice in a comprehensive manner based on the wide integration of information from various disciplines. Conclusion. Interdisciplinary integration helps to increase the professional motivation of students in the first and second years of studies in higher medical education, deepens their knowledge in specialized disciplines, activates the cognitive activity of students, promotes the formation of their competencies and improves the quality of knowledge, skills and abilities

The purpose of the study was to reveal the theoretical foundations of the implementation of the tutoring approach to the teaching of histology, cytology and embryology as a universal pedagogical technology. Materials and methods. Analyses, generalization and systematization of information from scientific and methodical literature were used in the study. Results and discussion. Tutoring technology is one of the credit-module system of education components in educational institutions of the III-IV levels of accreditation. Individualization of education contributed to the development of tutoring technologies, which are aimed at the development of independent work in the educational process of a higher medical school, and the tutor is responsible not only for the level of knowledge, but also for the formation of the personality of the future doctor. The introduction of tutoring into the educational process is a desire to identify the gifted young generation, to help them organize themselves in the educational space of the university and to get to know the applicants with their dreams and problems. The tutor gradually acquires a different role from previous work experience, which requires mastering self-organization techniques, the ability to take the initiative in a situation of uncertainty, and the cultivation of paradoxical thinking. The tutor becomes a role model, showing students certain orientations and techniques for self-improvement. Implementation of tutoring in a higher medical school takes place on the basis of mutual respect and trust, which creates a real opportunity for continuous professional growth of the teacher's competence and increasing the knowledge of students, their self-esteem, forms of flexibility and non-standard thinking, creates a desire to replenish one's own knowledge. Tutoring is one of the promising directions of the development of the individualization of training in the professional training of future medical students, which contributes to: creation of a whole set of educational and teaching-methodical manuals for independent work; development of integrated interdepartmental tasks; development of collegial relations of teachers and students; development of tasks that involve non-standard solutions. Conclusion. Tutoring is one of the forms of organizing the educational process, which involves mostly individual consultations, the use of project methods, and the introduction of information technologies. It helps to form the skills of self-education, self-development and creative solution of professional tasks, training in effective methods of development and implementation of research projects in various spheres of practical activity of students

Leydig cells are responsible for the production of testosterone in the male testicles when stimulated by luteinizing hormone (LH). Dysfunction of Leydig cells, which occurs during inflammation or oxidative stress, is one of the main causes of male infertility. The purpose of the study is to determine the effect of quercetin on the microscopic organization of rat testes, nitric oxide production and the intensity of oxidative stress in rat testes on the 90th day of the experiment, during the experimental central deprivation of LH synthesis caused by the administration of triptorelin acetate solution. The experiment was conducted on 20 sexually mature male white rats. Rats were divided into 2 groups of 10 animals in each group: control group (I), group with central deprivation of LH + quercetin synthesis (II). Animals from the group with central blockade of LH synthesis were injected subcutaneously with triptorelin acetate at a dose of 0.3 mg of the active substance per kg and quercetin at 100 mg per kg of body weight 3 times a week, while the control group was injected with saline. Our study of the interstitial space in the testes of white rats showed heterogeneity of macrophage populations and variability of structural and functional parameters. Central blockade of LH synthesis by the administration of treptorelin with the parallel administration of quercitin to the studied animals on the 90th day of the experiment causes changes in the structure of the interstitial space of rat testes, which is characterized by high variability both in the populations of interstitial endocrinocytes and macrophages. Biochemical indicators on the 90th day of the experiment indicate an increase in NO production in conditions of central blocking of the synthesis of luteinizing hormone by more than three times, which is ensured by the activity of the inducible isoform of NOS (iNOS). At the same time, the increase in the activity of iNOS with a decrease in the activity of the arginase pathway leads to the polarization of macrophages according to the pro-inflammatory type. The introduction of quercetin protects the testicular tissue of rats from oxidative damage caused by the administration of triptorelin on the 90th day of the experiment by increasing antioxidant protection and reducing reactive oxygen species in the tissue.