THE LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT OF ABSTRACT THINKING AMONG FIRST-YEAR MEDICAL STUDENTS
The accomplished cycle of medical education means that university graduates have got the complete formation of clinical thinking ability, which is impossible, in turn, without abstract thinking ability. This skill involves the range of abilities without mastering which the specialist in any area is considered to be immature. This list includes the ability to find the main point, to give reasons, to argue and draw conclusions, to establish connections and relationships between events and phenomena, to reveal and resolve contradictions, to analyze and reflect upon current events in a sound and sober way. The basic experience of mental activities, as a contribution to development of abstract thinking, is supposed to be gained while studying in a secondary school. Therefore, it is assumed that by the time of starting higher education, the student already has a certain set of mental skills. In this context, the analysis of the level of development of abstract thinking among the just- out- of- school people becomes relevant. Our studies testify that the first year students had not managed to enrich their mental skills and to form the basic experience of mental activities during the secondary school period. Their abstract thinking abilities are underdeveloped and for the most part they are limited to the visual-effective way of thinking, keeping to the concrete «here and now».