A doctor's proficiency cannot be built through theoretical mastery alone. Medical knowledge must be translated into the ability to perform clinical procedures accurately, safely, and with confidence. To strengthen this learning process, the UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta Medical Study Program held a Basic Clinical Skills Instructor Workshop on Thursday (9/7/2026) at the UIN Sunan Kalijaga Faculty of Medicine Building.

The workshop featured a team from the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Diponegoro as the accompanying university and was attended by all lecturers and laboratory technicians of the UIN Sunan Kalijaga Medical Study Program. The activity forms part of the strengthening of human resource capacity in preparing a structured, measurable, and student competency-oriented clinical skills learning system.

One of the resource persons, dr. Santoso, M.Si.Med., Sp.N., explained that the skill of facilitating learning in the clinical laboratory is an important competency for medical lecturers. In medical education, students are not only required to understand a procedure; they must also be able to demonstrate and perform it in accordance with established standards.

“The learning target is not merely for students to know a procedure. They must understand how to perform it and be able to demonstrate it in practice. However intelligent a student may be, if they do not possess the skill to perform clinical procedures, their competency is incomplete,” he said.

Dr. Santoso also emphasized that clinical ability does not form instantaneously. Skills develop through experience, repeated practice, and the guidance of instructors capable of creating a safe space for students to try, make mistakes, evaluate themselves, and improve their performance.

Instructors therefore do not only serve as explanation-givers; they are also facilitators who build students' confidence to perform. Students need to be continually encouraged to believe that clinical skills can be learned, as long as they are willing to practice with discipline and consistency.

“The more frequently a procedure is performed, the more skilled a person becomes in doing it. Even for procedures that may appear simple, repetition remains an important part of the learning process,” he said.

The workshop was not limited to the delivery of material; it also included a clinical skills laboratory learning simulation. In turns, each lecturer and laboratory technician played the role of both instructor and student. Through this method, participants practiced demonstrating procedures, explaining each stage of a clinical action, facilitating student practice, and providing accurate and objective feedback.

This role rotation enabled participants to understand the learning process from two perspectives simultaneously. As instructors, participants were required to convey procedures systematically and create a learning atmosphere that encourages students to try. As students, participants could experience first-hand the forms of facilitation and feedback that effectively support the mastery of clinical skills.

For UIN Sunan Kalijaga, this workshop holds a strategic position in building the foundations of quality medical education. As a newly established program, the readiness of learning facilities must proceed in tandem with the readiness of lecturers and laboratory technicians to manage a competency-based educational process.

The quality of medical graduates is greatly influenced by the quality of learning interactions from the earliest stages. Lecturers who are capable of facilitating clinical skills systematically will help students connect theoretical knowledge with real-world action, while simultaneously instilling the principles of patient safety, precision, communication, ethics, and professional responsibility.

The collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine of Universitas Diponegoro also demonstrates that the development of the UIN Sunan Kalijaga Medical Study Program is being carried out through academic mentoring and the transfer of experience from an institution with a mature medical education ecosystem.

Through this mentoring, learning standards are not built on assumptions, but grounded in good practices in medical education, professional competency requirements, and the ever-evolving demands of healthcare delivery.

This workshop forms an important part of preparing a learning system aligned with the distinctive character of the UIN Sunan Kalijaga Faculty of Medicine, where medical education is developed with a promotive and preventive orientation, particularly in responding to the health challenges of the elderly, degenerative diseases, and musculoskeletal disorders through a holistic approach.

This orientation demands an educational process that not only strengthens knowledge mastery, but also forms clinical skills, precision in action, ethical sensitivity, and professional responsibility. For a doctor's competency is ultimately reflected not only in what they know, but also in their ability to act with accuracy, maturity, and a commitment to patient safety in every aspect of healthcare delivery. (humassk)