Assoc. Prof. Dzintra Kažoka: 24 Hours Is Not Enough

2022. gada 12. martā notika Latvijas Ārstu biedrības Gada balvas medicīnā pasniegšanas ceremonija, kurā balvu nominācijā Gada docētājs 2021 saņēma Rīgas Stradiņa universitātes (RSU) Anatomijas un antropoloģijas institūta Morfoloģijas katedras asociētā profesore Dzintra Kažoka, kuru šai balvai izvirzīja un par kuru balsoja RSU ārstniecības studenti.

Dzintra Kažoka teaches anatomy to prospective medical practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, medical engineers, nutrition specialists, physiotherapists and nurses.

‘I have devoted almost 23 years to teaching anatomy and I am grateful to my destiny for giving me the opportunity to share my knowledge with students,’

says Dzintra Kažoka, emphasising that she is proud of working at RSU.

RSU Assoc. Prof. Dzintra Kažoka receiving the Latvian Medical Association's Lecturer of the Year Award on 12 March 2022. Photo: Toms Norde

What would you describe as being the most difficult part of learning anatomy?

The most complicated thing is to understand the proper way of learning and the amount of information that has to be understood in order to gain the necessary knowledge to meet the subject's requirements. At times, the most difficult thing is to absorb the huge amount of information and to identify the most suitable means for learning.

Each student's learning habits are important too. Sometimes I have to help them draw up a learning pattern – demonstrate various approaches to learning and methods for learning, summarising, and analysing information. I have to do so until the students discover learning patterns or systems that are most suited to them.

Are modern technologies useful when studying anatomy?

Yes and no. The huge amount of information is a hindrance. As I already mentioned, for a student not to get lost in the vast amount of information available, they must know precisely what to look for.

Moreover, it is not good if their only tools are a mobile phone and a computer, as every prospective medical practitioner and healthcare specialist must see what is happening around them and communicate with their fellow students and lecturers. Students must learn how to communicate.

You have been lecturing at RSU since 1999 – moving on the path from senior laboratory assistant to associate professor. What was the beginning of your pedagogical work like?

In the beginning, the most important thing for me was to understand how to address the audience and how to teach. I had to think of how to structure the study material for it to be comprehensible and easily understood by students. I permanently tracked the reaction of students and their comprehension of the study material, and depending on the reaction, I changed and supplemented the contents of my lectures and classes. It was an extreme challenge for me! The experience of organising the study work to attain the most efficient result possible came only with time. I learned from my colleagues, I sat in on their lectures and classes – it was and still is a constant development path.  

What is the hardest thing in a lecturer’s work?

24 hours are not enough! You have to constantly prepare for lectures and classes, evaluate students’ papers, and keep learning yourself. Being a lecturer is a very dynamic process.

 Dzintra Kažoka conducts a class for prospective students and their parents at the Anatomical Theatre at the RSU Open Days event, 2 April 2016

What gives you satisfaction from your wok?

That I have good students who will be our doctors in the future. It gives me great satisfaction to see them develop. I get particularly emotional at graduation ceremonies when I see that the freshmen who studied anatomy with me have turned into amazing young medical specialists. It is also a pleasure to meet my former students as practicing physicians.

What do you expect from students during the study process?

I expect progress and advancement – for them not to stand on the spot, use their knowledge for their development, pursuing their dream of becoming a medical practitioner!

What is a “good student”?

I don't think in terms of good and bad! They are all good students, some may need advice, some may not, but they are all good.

You graduated from the RSU Faculty of Medicine in 1999. What are your memories those years?

My years at university were the best! Studying is not just about learning, but also about making new contacts, making friends, and enjoying various extra-curricular activities. We were a very friendly study group – we visited each other, participated in hay harvesting, held joint midsummer and Christmas celebrations, went to the theatre etc.

Why did you choose to study and become an academician at RSU?

My mother’s father was a veterinarian whereas my father’s father healed people with words, so I already had a connection with medical treatment from my childhood. It was my dream to become a doctor.

I've always liked helping others, taking care of others, giving advice or sharing my knowledge to make someone feel better.

As I knew that I want to become a medical practitioner, I took in-depth courses in biology and chemistry at school. The chemistry teacher at Kārlis Videnieks' Riga Secondary School No. 77 (now called Rīga Avotu Primary School) worked with me after classes, preparing me for my medical studies.

When I was already a 6th year student at the Medical Academy, I visited my former anatomy teacher at the Anatomical Theatre together with my classmates. He asked if one of us would be willing to work with students. I thought that I could give it a try myself, although at that point I had already decided to devote my life to laboratory work and forensic medicine, but since there were no real offers that I was willing to take I did not want to remain without a job for a year. The day after graduation I started to gather the necessary paperwork to apply to work at the Anatomical Theatre and in September I was already standing in the front of a lecture hall. I would make the same choice all over again. 

Of course, but it's not always just the strict one you remember, but also the ones who take the time to talk to students, who find out what's going wrong, and who want to help. Since it is so important not to make mistakes in medicine, it is good that there are lecturers who make sure that no mistakes are made with their strict requirements.

To make fewer mistakes while practicing medicine, you have to work hard while you are still a student.

How would you describe a good lecturer?

A good lecturer is someone who combines strictness with a positive attitude. It is someone who knows how to listen and understand. A good lecturer is a multitasker – a producer, a teacher, and a medical practitioner at the same time!

A good lecturer is someone who also constantly learns from their students. They always strive to improve themselves. Whether or not you are a good lecturer is for others to decide, for those who see your work daily. Nothing stops now that I have received this award. I have to keep working. You have to strive to develop, learn, and follow the latest technological advancements all the time, and to be state of the art in your field and in other areas of science.

What things do you find difficult to understand?

Negligence and carelessness towards other people, their work, towards the time and effort they have invested in something, for example, when students do not listen to what I say, chat among themselves. I do not like dishonest students who use various prohibited tactics to get ahead.

What is your source of strength and energy?

My students! No matter how tired I am, when I enter a lecture room I get positive energy from my students. They give me strength! Also my colleagues, books, walks, fresh air, music, sport, dancing and travelling to new places, meeting interesting people, learning about different cultures.

Assoc. Prof. Dzintra Kažoka (1st row in the middle) together with colleagues and students participates in the Lattelecom Riga Marathon, 14 May 2017

What book has made a big impact on your life?

A book of strong impressions was Krist un celties (To Fall and Rise) by Jānis Greste that I read at school. It demonstrates the ability to get up even if life is not smooth and to lift others who need your support.

I also remember Kadri by Estonian author Silvia Rannamaa about an Estonian girl's difficult school years at the end of the 1850s and in the beginning of the 1860s. I also vividly remember a childhood book Ģeometrija mazajiem (Geometry for the Young) by V. Žitomirskis and L. Ševrins.

I would also like to mention the historical novel The Egyptian by Mika Waltari. It is about the life, travels and adventures of the priest-physician Sinuhe who lived in the 14th century B.C. during the reign of the legendary Pharaoh Akhenaten and his queen Nefertiti.

What, in your opinion, is the biggest evil?

I think that it is war at both a national and a personal level. In medicine I think it is tumours and serious illnesses. We are powerless to help people who are affected. I also think that famine is an evil.

What do you expect from life?

Health matters the most. If someone is healthy, they can live without many comforts and still accomplish a lot!