Seven Projects of the EU Erasmus+ Program have been Implemented in TNMU
Seven projects within the Erasmus+ program have been implemented in I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University. This European Union program supports cooperation, partnership, events and mobility projects in education, training, youth and sport.
TNMU is one of the few universities in Ukraine that simultaneously implements three Erasmus+ projects in the KA2 “Capacity Building in the Field of Higher Education”, in particular “Innovative Rehabilitation Education – Introduction of a new master degree programs in Ukraine 2018-2021”, “Simulation in Undergraduate Medical Education for Improvement of Safety and Quality of Patient Care, SAFEMED”, “Building Academic Capacity in Global Health in Eastern Europe – Central Asia Region (BACE)”. All of them are focused on international cooperation of equal partners based on exchange of experience and successful practices by different countries aimed at supporting reforms for improvement of the quality of higher education, convergence and understanding of higher education systems around the world and development of internationalization.
Ternopil Medical University initiated the implementation of the project “Innovative Rehabilitation Education – Introduction of new master degree programs in Ukraine 2018-2021” (REHAB) in 2018. At that time, our university was one of the five competition winners in Ukraine. The main goal is to create conditions for the new high quality master’s programs in physical therapy, ergotherapy. The project is of topical matter as regards the latest reforms in medical rehabilitation in Ukraine. The consortium of participants, besides TNMU, consists of universities of Latvia, Poland, Finland, Lithuania, the European Federation of Adaptive Physical Activity and Ukrainian partners, including the National University of Physical Education and Sports of Ukraine, Testing Centre of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, Lviv State University of Physical Culture, Sumy State University.
Within the REHAB programme, a cooperation agreement was signed between I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University and the J. Pilsudski Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw (AWF) for the period of September 2019 -September 2024. The agreement provides for exchange of researchers and teachers, aimed at joint consultations, lectures, training sessions, as well as implementation of research projects, organization of conferences, symposia and academic seminars with participation of representatives of both educational institutions; exchange of student groups; exchange of sports groups in Ukrainian-Polish competitions; shareing information, including joint publications on physical therapy, ergotherapy and rehabilitation.
Within the Erasmus+ project “Innovative Rehabilitation Education – Introduction of new master’s degree programs in Ukraine” in Riga (Latvia) a meeting of representatives of the project partners took place on January 17-18, 2019.
On April 19, 2019, a seminar was held at the National University of Physical Education and Sports. During the meeting new ways and methods of improvement and adaptation of the training program for bachelors and masters of physical therapy to European standards was discussed.
On October 21-26, 2019 a meeting of partners of the European Union Erasmus+ Program “Innovative Rehabilitation Education – Introduction of new master degree programs in Ukraine 2018-2021” took place at the Lithuanian University of Sports, Kaunas.
Winter and autumn Schools were also organized. The staff of TNMU was responsible for Autumn School. 2394 participants from 43 universities of Ukraine, 7 European universities, 124 public hospitals, 82 private rehabilitation institutions attended this event.
Owing to implementation of this project, two physical therapy laboratories have been established in TNMU; 63 units of training and rehabilitation equipment, worthing UAH 1,608,859.7, were purchased at the expense of the Erasmus+ program, as well as two new robotic computer rehabilitation complexes. In particular, a MOTOmed viva2 rehabilitation device for legs and arms, universal ladders for walking training, rehabilitation tables with electric height adjustment SR-3E, manual rehabilitation table with TB/O load, orthopaedic devices PARAMOBIL with static-dynamic module, universal cab for suspension therapy WSC-4, stabiloplatform for functional assessment and rehabilitation Timo, device for correction of disorders of large and small motility of the muscles of the upper extremity Pablo, expander straps, universal bars for learning to walk with obstacles T/U, mattresses, electronic protractors Bosch, pulse oximeters MEDICARE, etc.
In these laboratories students train to work with latest rehabilitation techniques, physical therapists assist patients using them.
In 2020, the European Union funded ten Erasmus+ KA2 projects “Development of Higher Education Capacity” in Ukraine. Only three medical universities of Ukraine won in this competition. Ternopil National Medical University gained the right to implement two projects. The beginning of implementation of these projects is in November 2020 or January 2021.
One of them is “Simulation in Undergraduate MEDical Education for Improvement of SAFEty and Quality of Patient Care, SAFEMED”, implemented at TNMU in partnership with seven other members of the consortium. Tbilisi State Medical University (Georgia), University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Vilnius University (Lithuania), University of Catania (Italy), Yerevan State University (Armenia), Aybusak University (Armenia), Bukovynian State Medical University (Ukraine) are partners of our university. The maximal funding will be provided to the project “Simulation in Undergraduate MEDical Education for Improvement of SAFEty and Quality of Patient Care, SAFEMED” that is 868,482.00 euros. Within this project, the latest equipment will be purchased for development of the simulation training centre.
In 2020, TNMU won the competition of the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EASEA) of the European Commission and received the right to implement the project “Building Academic Capacity in Global Health in Eastern Europe – Central Asia Region (BACE)”. The National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy will also take part in it. The project aims at creation or modernization of educational programs in health care and environment, improvement of the governance of institutions of higher education and strengthening relationships between the IHE of Ukraine and other countries within economic and social environment.
The partner-coordinator of TNMU in the consortium of the Free Economic Zone for the Erasmus + grant proposal is the Institute of Global Health of the University of Heidelberg (Germany). The consortium also includes universities from Norway, Georgia and Kazakhstan.
Moreover, TNMU implements four Erasmus+ projects on international academic mobility (direction KA107). These programs provide opportunities for cooperation with European universities to organize exchange of students, teachers and administration staff. Students participating in the academic mobility program must return to Ukraine and receive a diploma of a Ukrainian institution of higher education, and the diploma supplement includes the courses they studied in Europe. Teachers receive certificates of training or teaching, which are credited as advanced training.
In TNMU there are some existing academic mobility projects (Learning Mobility for individuals) within the Erasmus+ program with the Pope John Paul II High School in Biała Podlaska (Republic of Poland), the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain), Ondokuz Mayis University (Turkey) and Elbląg Higher School of Humanities and Economics (Republic of Poland).
At the Pope John Paul II High School in Biała Podlaska, the bachelor students of TNMU Institute of Nursing have the opportunity to study Nursing at a Polish partner university for one semester. The teachers of our university give lectures to students of this educational institution.
According to the agreement signed between TNMU and the University of Santiago de Compostela (2019-2022), Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility scholarship programs are provided for one PhD student of 5-month duration and for two lecturers of 5-day duration at the University of Santiago de Compostela.
Ternopil National Medical University, in cooperation with the universities of Poland, Latvia and Turkey, has also submitted seven more projects to the European Union Erasmus+ Commission and hopes for a positive decision.
TNMU spokeswoman Yanina Chaikivska