Over the last decade, learning and working in medicine has been increasingly influenced by digital tools. Today’s medical students are growing up in a digital age where digital tools and devices are a regular part of professional life. The development of digital competence is crucial for healthcare education, as healthcare professionals will be the ones helping orientate patients in digital healthcare systems and tools. This study aims to explore the opinions and experiences of medical college students regarding the factors influencing digital competence. Four focus group discussions were organised, with 26 medical college students in total in various study programmes in December 2021. The interviews were conducted in Latvian and transcribed by the lead researcher. Thematic analysis of the focus group discussions identified four main themes to be associated with the factors influencing digital competence: personal factors (self-confidence in using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), attitudes towards ICTs, prior training on ICTs, motivation), learning design (online, blended learning), lecturers’ digital competence and external aspects (family support, Covid-19 pandemic). This study presented results that could also be helpful for other universities to promote targeted development and improvement of digital competence of their students.

Over the last decade, learning and working in medicine have been increasingly influenced by digital tools and the “digital transformation” is now a popular topic. Today’s medical students are growing up in a digital age in which digital tools and devices are a regular part of their professional life. Digital transformation in healthcare is not just about technology but strategy and new ways of thinking. Developing digital competence is essential to health professional education to increase confidence in accessing the best evidence for clinical practice. Healthcare lecturers play a crucial role in promoting the acquisition of digital competencies and therefore need to be digitally competent themselves. This study aims to identify teachers’ digital competence at one medical college using the framework for the Digital Competence of Educators (DigCompEdu). A total of 47 medical college teacher participated. The results confirmed that the self-assessment instrument developed is reliable, valid, and thus suitable for measuring teachers’ digital competence. Generally, values are centred across the four major competence categories, and most participants obtain a score at the intermediate (B1) level. Investing in teacher training aimed at practical work with students is necessary, as the area showing the most significant weaknesses is Area 5: Empowering Learners. In particular, teachers also need to help their students use technologies in their education.

Syllabus is an important document for higher education institutions. It is a normative requirement for the assessment of the quality and facilitates understanding between teachers and students on the course and requirements. An important section of syllabi is the learning outcomes that characterise what students need to be able to demonstrate after completing the course. The aim of this research is to find out to what extent students read syllabi, to find out students’ opinions about the learning outcomes to be achieved specified in the syllabus, as well as to analyse how lecturers introduce students to the content of the syllabus. The research consists of three stages: 1) compilation of statistics and analysis on the number of readings of syllabi; 2) analysis of students’ self-assessment of the learning outcomes to be achieved; 3) survey of lecturers on the process of the introduction of syllabi. In the results, it was concluded that in the 2nd academic year there are more students who have read the syllabi than in the 1st and 3rd academic year. It was discovered that 64% of students agree with the statement that the lecturer introduces the requirements of the study course and 56.5% of students agree that at the end of the study course they have achieved the learning outcomes specified in the syllabus. The results of lecturers’ surveys indicate that the vast majority 78.8.5% are convinced that only a few read the syllabi, 41.2% use the presentation, 5.9% create a separate report to introduce students to the syllabus and learning outcomes and 60.6% devote around 10 minutes to it. According to the obtained results, it would be necessary to encourage lecturers to devote more time when introducing students to the syllabus and to inform the lecturers about the feedback on the reading statistics of their syllabi.