Completion of SPRING project – a new start-up for the development of medical education

Prospects for cooperation between member medical universities and attracting new partners in order to increase the quality of higher medical education were discussed during the meeting of the Rector of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Professor Emil Ceban, with Professor Levan Metreveli, founder and co-president of the Peer Review Association for Medical and Health Education of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (PRAMED-EECA) from Sofia, Bulgaria, and with Professor Levan Baramidze, Head of the Department of Public Health, Management, Policy and Health Economics, Director of the School of Public Health, Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia.

The visit took place on 14 November 2022 upon the completion of the "Setting peer review instruments and goals for medical (health) education - SPRING" project, funded by the European Union Program for education, training, youth and sport ERASMUS+ (Capacity Building in High Education – CBHE). This is the second regional project implemented in partnership with universities from the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Lithuania and Bulgaria.

The meeting focused on the overview of the results obtained under the SPRING project. Prof. Metreveli mentioned that the project aimed to improve the quality of medical education in the partner universities, in the context of implementation of Bologna Process and international requirements regarding the criteria for recognition and accreditation of medical schools established by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).

"Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was not possible to undertake all the planned visits, most of the envisaged activities were carried out online. However, the SPRING project was a success, thus we managed to create a group of experts of about 60 people, who will later be involved in other European projects. It is very important to have prepared people. The advantage is that when working in consortia, credibility is greater due to collective responsibility, and we can achieve outstanding results and increase the impact of projects", added the PRAMED-EECA co-president.

The expert has also stated that he plans to travel to Brussels, Belgium, where he will meet with MEPs and representatives of the European Commission to discuss attracting European funds and the financing of projects, and intends to open an office of the association. Given the expansion of the coverage area to other countries, in January 2023 he is going to undertake a visit to Ukraine in order to invite other medical universities to join the organization.

Rector Emil Ceban expressed his openness for fruitful cooperation in the future and emphasized that our university concluded several collaboration agreements with medical universities in Romania and Ukraine and could facilitate the involvement of new partners in the projects to be launched further under the aegis of PRAMED-EECA.

For his part, Prof. Levan Baramidze stressed that one of the objectives of the Association is to organize courses for hospital managers in the coming years for the purpose of accrediting medical and sanitary institutions. Another objective concerns attracting Romanian universities for the launch of the Master's Program in Public Health, but also of other partner universities from Central Asia, in particular from Tajikistan.

Evelina Gherghelegiu, institutional coordinator within the framework of SPRING project, has emphasized that one of the important achievements of the project is that Nicolae Testemitanu University became a founding member of PRAMED-EECA, a fact attested by the Certificate handed out at the launch conference of the Association, held in the city of Sofia, Bulgaria, on 12 October 2022. The second achievement is the launch of the Association's magazine – MEDH-EECA/Journal of Medical and Health Sciences Education for Eastern Europe and Central Asia. Thus, in its first issue, the article Impact and consequences of COVID-19 on teaching and learning in Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of Moldova was published, which was written by a group of authors from our university - Olga Cernetchi, Silvia Stratulat, Virginia Cocieru-Salaru, Stela Adauji, Olga Iurco, Angela Cazacu-Stratu and Evelina Gherghelegiu. The launch of the magazine took place recently in Kaunas, Lithuania, an event attended by Nicolae Testemitanu University representatives. Members of the university community are invited to publish articles in this scientific journal.

During the discussions, issues such as the prospects of application to new European projects and the collaboration of PRAMED-EECA with ASPHER, the key independent European organization dedicated to strengthening the role of public health by improving education and training in the field of public health, have been addressed.

The experts also had meetings with representatives of the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova and the National Agency for Quality Assurance in Education and Research.

Moreover, the SPRING project contributed to experience exchange between the representatives of the partner universities. "The experience shared between the participants was very useful; some aspects can certainly be implemented at our university. All these activities are carried out in order to provide quality university services. Lessons learned were: the earlier you start, the better results you will get; the fear of stepping out of the comfort zone should not be underestimated; it is necessary to develop the capacities of the accreditation teams; organizational discipline is mandatory; proper motivation of the teams involved in accreditation is essential", pointed out Olga Iurco, head of the Internal Audit Department, who visited the medical universities in Sofia, Bulgaria, and Kaunas, Lithuania.

According to Olga Iurco, the implementation of SPRING project responded to the needs of the beneficiaries and contributed to: increasing the degree of satisfaction of students and university staff, the credibility and quality of educational programs, the competitiveness, visibility and attractiveness of the University; to strengthening international networks and building trust in generating partnerships; to the recognition of degrees and the rise in the number of students, as well as to the efficiency of costs and the optimization of processes.

Currently, PRAMED-EECA brings together 14 member universities from seven countries: Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. The main objectives are: assisting universities in preparing for international and national accreditation, launching new educational programs (including joint ones), providing informational, analytical and organizational support in conducting scientific research, publishing in the MEDH-EECA magazine and organizing training courses, seminars and conferences. The association will continue cooperation between partner universities in order to expand joint activities aimed at improving public health and the quality of medical education.