Training, round, British format: news from Debates BSPU

Participants of the debate club of Berdyansk State Pedagogical University took part in a debate training from the Ukrainian Medical Students Association (UMSA).

On February 25, 2026, the UMSA held the opening of an online debate club, “a space for those who want not just to speak, but to argue, convince and think in a structured way”.

The event – the first meeting of the club – took place on the Discord platform.

The speaker of the training – Alyona Panina, a 4th year student of the O. O. Bogomolets National Medical University, founder and head of the NMU Debate Club, finalist and winner of many debate tournaments, including DT Prime Cup, Slobozhansk Capital XV, KDS (2025). As well as the top judge of the OSS Debate School, the Rector’s Cup 2025 and the main judge of the Jedi Training Camp (2025).

The event began with an introductory training. We talked about:

• debate as an intellectual game, where the main thing is to prove a position well-founded;
• the British parliamentary debate format and its features;
• what is considered a proven and sufficiently explained argument;
• the importance and “need” of debates for each and every person;
• the roles of tables, secretarial speeches, line additions;
• points of information in debates (POI);
• the structure of a quality argument.

The last point, at first glance, may seem mundane to our speakers and viewers, however, for evaluating speeches, it is the structural organization, integrity and provenness of the team’s argument that is most important. Even if a very cool idea is voiced, but whithout the reasons, consequences, significance of the problem, solution mechanism, why this particular option of a particular solution or phenomenon is better and not another, the argument cannot be complete.

After the training, the attendees had the opportunity to consolidate the theory in practice, playing a round in the British format. Topic: “The CP, as a recent graduate of a medical university, will enter the family doctor training program.” The traditional 15 minutes of preparation, the game and the speakers of our group – Artem Tyshchuk and Daria Kizilova – take 2nd place.

We are sincerely grateful to the organizers of the event for the detailed explanations and opportunities for debate practice!

Photos are from the presentation of Alena Panina

Daria Kizilova