ORGANIZATIONAL AND ADAPTATION STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL INTEGRATION OF FOREIGN STUDENTS IN MEDICAL UNIVERSITIES

Аннотация

Today, the majority of young people are initially attracted by the quality of education when applying to study in different countries; according to students, this is prestigious, provides an opportunity to demonstrate their independent qualities, and allows them to develop as individuals. However, expectations and dreams do not always correspond to reality; initially, the quality of life of foreign students creates mental health problems as soon as students arrive in the country, associated with "culture shock" or homesickness, climatic differences between countries, discomfort, and language barriers. Keywords: Foreign medical students, socio-psychological adaptation, internationalization of medical education, intercultural communication Introduction. The internationalization of higher medical education represents one of the leading trends in the global educational space, characterized by a steady increase in the number of foreign students in medical universities of various countries. According to UNESCO, the number of students receiving higher education outside their country of citizenship has reached 5.6 million people, with a significant proportion being students of medical specialties. This trend is due both to the aspiration of future doctors to receive quality education in countries with recognized medical schools and to the globalization of the medical services market, requiring unification of approaches to training healthcare professionals. The process of educating foreign students in medical universities is characterized by multifactorial specificity, caused not only by general problems of academic and sociocultural adaptation but also by the peculiarities of medical education, including high intensity of academic workload, the need to master professional terminology in a non-native language, early interaction with patients in a foreign language environment, as well as ethical and deontological 19 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference aspects of the medical profession that have culturally determined specificity. Together, these factors create a significant psycho-emotional burden on foreign students, potentially reducing the effectiveness of the educational process and negatively affecting the formation of professional competencies of future doctors. As numerous studies indicate, an insufficient level of socio-psychological adaptation of foreign medical students correlates with academic underachievement, increased anxiety levels, development of depressive states, professional disorientation, and, in extreme cases, discontinuation of studies. According to a meta-analysis conducted by C. Malau-Aduli et al. (2019), about 30% of foreign students in medical universities demonstrate pronounced signs of maladaptation in the first year of study, which actualizes the need to develop effective organizational and adaptation strategies that take into account the specifics of medical education and the cultural and psychological characteristics of students. The modern paradigm of higher medical education implies a transition from unified approaches in teaching to personalized educational trajectories, which requires a comprehensive revision of existing models of adaptation for foreign students. Traditional adaptation programs, focusing primarily on language training and formal orientation in the educational environment, demonstrate limited effectiveness and do not ensure the full integration of foreign students into the academic and professional community. In this regard, the development and implementation of systemic organizational and adaptation strategies based on an interdisciplinary approach and aimed at comprehensively addressing the problems of socio-psychological integration of foreign medical students acquire special relevance. Such strategies should take into account the multi-level nature of adaptation processes, including sociocultural, academic, professional, and psychological components, and provide institutional support at all stages of education, from pre-university preparation to postgraduate support. The aim of the research is the theoretical substantiation and practical development of comprehensive organizational and adaptation strategies aimed at increasing the level of socio-psychological integration of foreign students in medical universities. Achieving this goal involves solving the following tasks: systematization of existing approaches to the adaptation of foreign medical students; identification of key factors affecting the effectiveness of socio- psychological integration; determination of institutional mechanisms to support 20 ACADEMIC RESEARCH IN MODERN SCIENCE International scientific-online conference adaptation processes; development of a methodology for evaluating the effectiveness of adaptation measures; formation of practical recommendations for implementing organizational and adaptation strategies in the educational environment of medic