Reducing the gap between professional opportunities of graduates of medical education institutions and needs of patients is the priority of medical education. The introduction of interactive methods, in particular the case study method, can help solve this problem. The aim of this study was to investigate how the application of the case method in medical education affects the learning outcomes of students and acquisition of practical experience. Case method was used to identify its impact on the acquisition of practical skills, abilities and clinical experience by future physicians. Students’ opinions on the effectiveness of the case method in gaining practical experience were surveyed. The study showed that the case method helped students find solutions required by clinical situations, as they used not only theoretical knowledge, but also acquired practical skills and clinical experience. The case method also increases students’ confidence in their professional abilities. This experimental study proved the high efficiency of using the case method in medical education to gain practical experience by students in the education institution. It can be useful for scholars and educators who are looking for, developing and implementing effective teaching methods that allow students to acquire the necessary competencies.

At the end of 2019, the new virus called Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread widely from China all over the world (including Europe). Most countries in Europe at the beginning of 2020 have been quarantined. The aim of the work is to develop the system dynamics model for assessing the impact of the different factors on the COVID-19 death rate in Europe. There were tested three hypotheses about factors of reducing the COVID-19 death rate with the help of linear regression analysis. The density of the population of European countries doesn’t affect the COVID-19 death rate. Also, COVID-19 death rate does not drastically affect mortality statistics. But the level of country’s economic development is a factor of COVID-19 death rate because in high developed countries the pandemic death rate is lower, regardless of the mechanisms of the spread of the disease and its impact on human health.

Relevance of the research is determined by the need to study the influence of the region’s hydrothermal resources on the alfalfa leaf-stem mass and seed yield formation, which is important in the present climate change conditions. In this regard, the article is aimed at identifying the influence of precipitation and temperature regime on the growth and development of plants of varieties and hybrids according to mowing cycles and years of grass stand use. In the research, the following methods were used: field (conducting phenological observations and records), laboratory (structural analysis of the grass stand), mathematical and statistical (objective evaluation of the experimental data obtained). It was found that the amount of precipitation from the beginning of the period of relative rest until the onset of active temperatures above 10˚C had the greatest influence on formation of the 1st mowing; the amount of precipitation after the establishment of active temperatures above 10˚С and up to the moment of the leaf-stem mass yield accounting had a moderate effect on the formation of the 2nd mowing and strong – on the 3rd one; the amount of precipitation of the previous mowing period – on the 2nd-4th one (the strongest – on the 4th); the sum of active temperatures above 10˚С – on the 1st and 3rd mowing; hydrothermal coefficient indicators – on the 2nd-3rd ones; duration of the growing season with active temperatures above 10˚С – on the 1st and 3rd. Seed yield, in contrast to feed productivity, largely depended on the amount of precipitation before the flowering phase and during the growing season of alfalfa in general. It was established that the yield of dry matter and seeds productivity are influenced by: the sum of active temperatures, the amount of precipitation per mowing or plant vegetation period, and the genetic characteristics of the hybrids and varieties under study. It was discovered that the hydrothermal conditions of the year differently influence the level of plant productivity – excessive and sufficient moisture increases feed productivity and reduces seed yield. The obtained data are of practical value for predicting the yield of the green mass of alfalfa in each subsequent mowing depending on the amount of precipitation during the previous growing season, as well as for the development of programs for the creation of synthetic varieties with the increased productivity rates of leaf-stem mass and seeds.

Rational use of drugs underlies the development of a treatment strategy. In particular, it is important in dental practice to properly select odontoprotectors for the prevention, treatment and maintenance therapy of periodontal diseases. A methodological approach based on the Arskey & O’Malley’s framework was applied to analyse the state of knowledge and previous studies on the use of odontoprotector drug group at different stages of the therapeutic process of periodontal disease. Of the 6 initial scientific databases, the research was conducted in 3 databases that best met the specified search conditions: Google (Google Scholar); PubMed; Wiley InterScience (The Cochrane Library). The literature was selected for the last 5 years (2016-2021). A total of 492 scientific papers were analysed. It is established that the available scientific information is divided into 4 main areas: the use of herbal remedies and folk remedies; antibiotic therapy in dental practice; prospects for the use of nanotechnology in dentistry; results of experimental researches and review articles on a particular active pharmaceutical ingredient.