Educational methods and teaching styles applied at 6year‐ longitudinal course Fundamentals of Medical Ski lls according to international medical students in six years’ experience (EDUMED study)

Background: Setting standards in undergraduate medical education is a crucial but neglected research a rea. Improvement and innovation in teaching and education are primary goals at the University of Zagreb, Medical Studies in English, Croatia. This manifests in the 6-year- longitudinal course 'Fundamentals of Medical Sk ills', focused on communication, practical and clinical skills. Summary of Work: An observational, cohort, cro sssectional study was performed on students att ending the course (30 teaching hours each acade mic year). Research was performed as a survey a mong 5 generations of students (2nd‐ 6th year) about their stance on educational methods and teaching styles applied throughout the FMS course. Summary of Results: 202 students were invited to participate, of whom 141 (69.8%) responded. 83.7% found the course useful. 92.9% favoured p ractical over communication skills. Among lectu rers’ qualities, knowledge (89.4%), communicati on skills (75.2%) and approachability (73%) wer e most valued. 86.5% of students preferred teac hing alongside patients. Discussion: Students found practice on patient s more valuable than mannequins and simulators. Students appeared to neglect the importance of communication skills as an integral part of th e course. This reflects a possible limited and less critical approach to medical education. Cl inical year students report implementations of acquired skills in other courses. Conclusion: Acquiring adequate communication s kills is crucial in medical undergraduate educa tion. Alongside practical and clinical skills, they are integral parts of the longitudinal cou rse FMS at the University of Zagreb, Medical St udies in English. Overall, the students survey demonstrated a positive response to the course but underestimated the communication skills asp ect. Take‐ home Message: We wish to emphasize the importa nce of challenging traditional methods of medic al education. Delivery of the FMS course by a multidisciplinary team provides diversity in th e quality of teaching. In our opinion, communic ation as well as practical and clinical skills are best taught in a longitudinal course such a s FMS.