The city of Kraków is also known as a “city of students” with over 130,000 young people from around the world studying there. It is home to the oldest university in Poland, the Jagiellonian University (JU), founded in 1364, which currently has more than 35,000 students and doctoral candidates.
The Jagiellonian University Medical College (JUMC), which is a part of JU, consists of three faculties: Medicine, Pharmacy, and Health Sciences. It prides itself on a student body of 5,500, and a plethora of available programs such as long-cycle master’s programs, first and second-cycle programs, postgraduate programs, and Doctoral School. The part of the Faculty of Medicine is the School of Medicine in English conducting medicine and dentistry programs in English.
The academic staff of the JUMC comprises distinguished specialists and experts in their fields. In addition to their daily teaching and research work, they hold positions on the boards of international scientific societies and serve as editors-in-chief of significant industry journals. The results of their work are published in leading international journals, such as the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet.
The Center for Innovative Medical Education serves as a learning facility for students of the Faculty of Medicine (Medicine, Dentistry) and the Faculty of Health Sciences (Nursing, Midwifery, Physiotherapy, Medical Rescue), providing access to Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine, Department of Medical Education, as well as the Medical Library, with its vast collection of traditional and digital resources, including 300,000 books, over 300 journal titles, 42 licensed databases, more than 8,000 electronic journal titles, and over 69,000 books.
Andrzej A. Kononowicz PhD, MSc, is the D-CREDOproject coordinator. He is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine at Jagiellonian University Medical College. He holds a degree in computer science, a PhD in biomedical engineering, and a habilitation degree in health sciences. Andrzej Kononowicz completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm. His research focuses on the application of new technologies in medical education, particularly virtual patient integration, clinical decision support systems, and computer-aided clinical reasoning education. In his free time, he enjoys skiing, hiking in the mountains with his family, reading travel books, and analyzing maps, especially for geographic features and route planning.
Joanna Fąferek, PhD candidate, MSc in Public Health, paramedic, certified EuSim simulation instructor, involved in faculty development training. Employed in the Center for Innovative Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Jagiellonian University Medical College (JUMC), and School of Medicine in English JUMC. Her main research interest lies in virtual patients and clinical reasoning with a support of Large Language Models. Actively involved in European projects: CLILMED, iCoViP, CHAPTER-SEA. In the D-CREDO project she contributed to the literature review, and will be responsible for creating LU’s focused on LLM and Big Data, together with quality assessment tools for LUs and VPs. She is a big fan of nature and outdoor activities like hiking, cycling and skitouring.
Ada Frankowska, MD, a resident in psychiatry employed at the Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine JUMC. In the D-CREDO project she will work on the development of LUs and VPs with a focus on mHealth applications and digital biomarkers. She is experienced in authoring VPs for clinical reasoning in the iCoViP project, creating a clinical reasoning curriculum in the DID-ACT project and Polish localisation of the VP system CASUS. She also takes part in the Mentalio project, where she is involved in the development of an artificial intelligence-based mental health decision support system for use in psychiatric care of children and adolescents. In her free time she enjoys video games and hiking.
Stanisław Górski, PhD, MD, is a specialist in internal medicine. He holds the position of an adjunct (associate professor) at the Centre for Innovative Medical Education at JUMC. His research primarily centers around communication skills and interprofessional education. Over the past years, he has collaborated with the IT company Infermedica, Inc. on the development of a virtual symptom checker and triage system. He is experienced in reviewing VPs for clinical reasoning in the iCoViP project and creating a clinical reasoning curriculum in the DID-ACT project. In the D-CREDO project, he will contribute his expertise to develop educational content at the intersection of clinical reasoning and digital health tools, and their implications for teaching.
Anna Kocurek MD, PhD, Msc Clin Edu. A consultant in radiology and a clinical teacher. Head of the Laboratory of the Training of Clinical Skills at the Center for Innovative Medical Education at the Jagiellonian University. Medical Simulation Instructor, enthusiast of the experiental learning. She creates and conducts courses and exams in the field of pre- and postgraduate education devoted to technical and non-technical skills. Author of publications (including chapters of textbooks) and training in medical education for academic teachers (Kraków, Warsaw, Lublin, Kielce, Olsztyn). In her free time she loves mountain hiking, also using her climbing and freeriding skills.
Wojciech Lasoń MSc, engineer, graduate of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Automatics and Electronics at the University of Science and Technology in Krakow. He is a scientific and technical specialist at the Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine Jagiellonian University Medical College. His research and interests include biocybernetics, neurocybernetics, modeling of biological systems and analysis and processing of medical signals and images. In his free time, he goes skiing and plays basketball.
Ewa Radulescu is the D-CREDO project administrator. She has over 15 years of experience in clerical work, supporting management and the team in international projects. Currently working as Administrator at the Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine – Jagiellonian University Medical College. She participated in two European projects: iCoViP and DID-ACT, where she was involved in technical development and quality control of virtual patients and online educational resources. Loves travelling, exploring different cuisines and dancing.
Małgorzata Sudacka, MD, Pediatrician and clinical teacher. PhD candidate specializing in clinical reasoning teaching methods, with a particular research interest in virtual patients and concept mapping. For nearly 10 years, she has been involved in teaching communication skills to medical faculty students. She is a co-author of pre- and postgraduate courses and publications in medical education, focusing on clinical reasoning and communication skills. She has also been a speaker at several national and international conferences. An active participant in international projects, including DID-ACT, iCoViP, Child CA, D-CREDO, and CHAPTER-SEA. Privately, she is a mother of three, passionate about dancing, zumba, and flowers.
Renata Szydlak, MSc in Biophysics, PhD in Medical Sciences, is a researcher at the Department of Bioinformatics and Telemedicine at Jagiellonian University Medical College (JUMC). She teaches students at the Faculty of Medicine and the School of Medicine in English at JUMC. Her research interests lie at the intersection of nanotechnology, cell biology, and medicine. She is particularly focused on the application of new technologies in medical education for clinical reasoning training, with an emphasis on virtual patients and virtual reality simulations. As part of the D-CREDO project, she contributes to literature reviews, the development of learning objectives, and the preparation of a white paper. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her dogs. She loves traveling, especially to places where she can immerse herself in wild nature.
Magdalena Szopa, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor at Jagiellonian University Medical College (JUMC) in Krakow, Poland. Dr. Szopa completed her medical degree from JUMC in 2003, and subsequently fulfilled specialization requirements in Internal Medicine and Diabetology. Her area of expertise is in monogenic diabetes, and the overarching goal of her research focuses on translating genetic information into daily clinical practice. Dr. Szopa has led various projects sponsored by the Polish Government, National Polish Center for Science, and the Polish Diabetes Association. She was a visiting fellow at Cambridge University, University of Edinburgh, Rochester University and many others. Her research work on monogenic diabetes has been acknowledged by several national prizes in the field, including the most prestigious award of the Polish Diabetes Association: the Wierzuchowski Prize for excellence in diabetes research in 2017. Dr. Szopa serves as a reviewer for the European Commission and several important international journals. She has been an active member of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). In addition to her active involvement in research in diabetes and work as a clinician she teaches students. She also participates in many training courses in the field of academic teaching, such as Masters of Didactics in 2021 addressed to outstanding academic teachers from Poland. Dr. Szopa also organizes various types of training for academic teachers. In 2018-2019, she was the coordinator of the project “Ars Docendi Teaching Competences of the Jagiellonian University” including the courses: Problem-based teaching methods, Coaching and Gamification. Recently Dr. Szopa has been involved in courses in clinical reasoning for students and academic teachers as part of the project DID-ACT: Development, implementation and Dissemination of an Adaptive Clinical reasoning program for students and health educators under the Erasmus + program. She was also a CLILMED project expert. Since 2024, she has been a member of the council of the Medical Center for Postgraduate Education at Jagiellonian University Medical College.
If you want to learn more about JUMC, have a look at the official promotional materials:
Jagiellonian University Medical College – INSPIRED BY THE PAST WE SHAPE THE FUTURE.pdf
Jagiellonian University Medical College – 660 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE.pdf
Stay connected with D-CREDO and follow our journey on LinkedIn for more updates, insights, and stories. Don’t forget to connect with our team members (linked above) to follow their individual projects and contributions to the project!