Internship of the Head of the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Management at the Technical University of Munich
From July 2022 to June 2024, Professor Hanna Saturska, Head of the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Management at the I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, undertook an internship at the Technical University of Munich (Germany).
This internship was made possible thanks to the Volkswagen Foundation (1.07.2022-30.08.2022) and the Philipp-Schwartz-Initiative — Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (01.09.2022-28.06.2024), organizations that supported the research project “Towards Creating the Preconditions for a Sustainable Academic Teaching and Research Infrastructure for Public Health in Ukraine: Transfer of Knowledge from the German Context.”
Professor Hanna Saturska was a visiting professor (https://www.sg.tum.de/php/team/gastwissenschaftlerinnen/hanna-saturska/) in the Department of Public Health and Disease Prevention (https://www.hs.mh.tum.de/php/startseite/) under the supervision of Professor Michael Laxy (https://www.professoren.tum.de/laxy-michael).
The internship was aimed at establishing and continuing cooperation between the I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University and the School of Medicine and Health of the Technical University of Munich (TUM), studying the peculiarities of the educational process and teaching of public health disciplines at the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences of the Technical University of Munich, exchanging experience in the field of public health and disease prevention, getting acquainted with the peculiarities of the German health care system and the peculiarities of curricula in the field of public health and medicine in Germany, which contributes to the deepening of international cooperation between universities and improves the qualifications and professional level of academic staff.
The main objectives of this professional internship were to gain experience and transfer knowledge from a German university on a wide range of healthcare research activities, ranging from academic teaching experience to research skills and scientific management structures.
During her internship at the School of Medicine and Health of the Technical University of Munich, Hanna Saturska led the research project “Systematic Review of Master’s and Doctoral Programs in Public Health in Germany and Exploring Stakeholders’ Views and Experiences in Program Development and Improvement” within the framework of the program “Towards Creating the Preconditions for a Sustainable Academic Teaching and Research Infrastructure in Public Health in Ukraine: Transferring Knowledge from the German Context”, systematically performed educational and scientific work, actively participated in all meetings, training and scientific events of the Department of Public Health and Disease Prevention, supervised the work of three masters in public health from TUM (Technical University of Munich) and LMU (Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich) (Katrina Kufer, Gesa Meyer, Annika Neff) in their involvement in the implementation of the research project.
As a visiting professor at the Technical University of Munich, TNMU Professor Hanna Saturska participated in various events at the university and beyond, including:
– the Regional Meeting of the World Health Summit, April 13, 2023 (Online) (in sessions: “The Private Sector and the Commercial Determinants of Health: Rules of Engagement”, ‘Emerging Leaders in a Globalized World’, ‘The Transatlantic Alliance and Health’, Washington, DC, USA);
– the seminar organized by the women’s organization Female Academic Medicine Excellence (FAME) – “Gender Equality in Academia – Status Quo and Analysis of Individual Career Paths”, meeting with female professors at the Faculty of Medicine of LMU (Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich), Munich, April 20, 2023;
– European Public Health Week (an initiative of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA)). (https://eupha.org/EUPHW_Search_for_an_event):
- May 22, 2023 – “Mental Health”,
- May 23, 2023 – “Diversity in Health”,
- May 26, 2023 – “Global Health Emergencies and Response”;
– Philipp Schwartz and Inspire Europe Stakeholder Forum (May 23-24, 2023, Berlin, Germany;
– Henry Stewart Group (HSG) webinar “Health Literacy” – professional education event in the field of science, business and management, June 15, 2023, London, online;
– the online networking forum “Humboldt4Ukraine”, October 05, 2023;
– the Philipp Schwartz and Inspireurope Stakeholder Forum, organized by the Alexander von Humboldt Philipp Foundation, Berlin, Germany (April 18-19, 2024);
– the workshop “Fundamentals of University Teaching and Learning”, University of Heidelberg, Germany (April 27-28, 2024);
– the seminar “Global Health Academy. Antimicrobial Resistance as a Global Health Threat”, University of Heidelberg, Germany (April 29-30, 2024);
– “Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges” – celebration of the 15th anniversary of the organization “Women of the Technical University of Munich” (10.04.2024);
– PhD/Post-Doc seminar organized with the support of the Munich Center for Health Economics and Policy (March 22, 2024);
– the Scholars at Risk webinar “Navigating new academic spaces in North America: lessons learned from academics” (February 15, 2024);
– a series of COIL training webinars organized by the Hague University of Applied Sciences (February 27, March 5, 12, 26, April 2, 2024) and other events.
During the internship, Hanna Saturska got acquainted with the most pressing issues of public and global health, exchanged experience in the field of public health with scientists from the School of Medicine and Health of the Technical University of Munich, which contributed to the deepening of international cooperation between universities and improved the qualifications and scientific level of the academic staff of both educational institutions.
The knowledge and experience gained on the peculiarities of organizing the educational process and teaching public health disciplines at the Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences of the Technical University of Munich will be implemented in the educational process at the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Management of the I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University, as well as presented at professional scientific and practical conferences.
I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Michael Laxy, Head of the Department of Public Health and Disease Prevention at the School of Medicine and Health of the Technical University of Munich, Volkswagen Foundation and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for their assistance and support during the internship.
Information provided by Hanna Saturska.