Objectives

• Describe career paths of graduates of individual UJCM study courses.
• Learn opinions on the quality of teaching in the context of professional work or other career path chosen;
• Identify factors affecting labour market success;
• Prepare guidebooks and information for future UJCM students about professional development opportunities and the requirements of the Polish labour market.

Planned activities

The research will be conducted as an observation of a prospective cohort of graduates of all three faculties of the Medical Collage of the Jagiellonian University UJCM (Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Pharmacy, and Faculty of Health Studies), all study courses, and all study levels, including students of courses taught in English. Invitations to participate in the survey will be sent to students during their final semester of the studies at UJCM. After giving an informed and willing consent to participate in the project, they will be asked to complete a short survey concerning their future professional plans, to give consent to the use of some of their personal data contained in the USOS system concerning their studies (including their grade point average), and to provide their contact data, so we can keep in touch with them at subsequent project stages.
Approximately six months after graduation or completion of placement/traineeship (in the case of students of medicine and dentistry), graduates will be sent an electronic survey containing questions about graduates’ evaluation of the quality of teaching delivered at UJCM from the perspective of the study course they have completed, about their current professional situation (work, further education) and completed professional trainings/courses, whether they feel that their studies have/have not adequately prepared them for their actual professional tasks and duties, about their opinions on the skills required in professional work and whether they have been given the opportunity to learn and develop the skills during their studies at UJCM. Graduates will be also asked about their opinions as how the curriculum of the course they have completed could be expanded/modified (from their current perspective).
The same survey will be sent to the project participants approximately 18 months after graduation or completion of placement/traineeship (in the case of graduates of medicine and dentistry).

Description of the respondent group

Invitations to participate in the project will be sent to all UJCM students in their final year of studies, regardless of the faculty, course, teaching language, level, or form of studies (full time/extramural). The project will cover UJCM graduates in at least three consecutive academic years (starting with 2022/23).

Analysis of the findings

The data obtained will be used to describe graduates’ professional and educational developments, including types of professional and educational activities they engage in and where they work or continue their education (in Poland and abroad), and to learn their opinions on the skills obtained while studying at UJCM from the perspective of the needs and requirements of the labour market.
A separate analysis will be conducted to identify factors (related both to the course of studies and to the graduates’ expectations) affecting success on the labour market (finding a job, satisfaction at work, continued education).

The research findings and knowledge gained will

• provide an insight into possible UJCM graduates’ career paths, depending on the faculty or study course, and will help to identify factors affecting success on the labour market;
• acquaint graduates with possible career paths and the requirements they are expected to satisfy in order to find a job matching their field of study;
• familiarise prospective employers with a UJCM graduate’s profile;
• be a valuable source of information, both for the University authorities and persons directly involved in the teaching process and in developing curricula, serving as a guideline when modifying the teaching process.