Deepening of cooperation between Zaporizhzhia Medical University and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Bern within the framework of the medical partnership initiative

Zaporizhzhia State Medical and Pharmaceutical University (ZSMFU) has started cooperation with the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern in Switzerland. The interaction between the institutions is part of the international medical partnership initiative launched last year. The program aims to establish horizontal cooperation between Ukrainian medical institutions and universities and their foreign counterparts. This will facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experience.

Since August this year, Ukrainian and Swiss experts have participated in online events to discuss the prospects for future partnership. In addition, as part of the development of the medical partnership initiative, employees of Zaporizhzhia University visited Bern to exchange experience and deepen their skills. The visit was made possible thanks to the support of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and the Ukrainian-Swiss project, in which the ZSMFU is a participant.

The Ukrainian delegation visited the Medical Faculty of the University of Bern. During the visit, each participant was assigned a supervisor according to the field of activity. Thus, Associate Professor of the Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics Maksym Kozhemiaka worked under the supervision of Professor Thomas Dfstenberger at the Department of Traumatology and Orthopedics of the University Hospital Inselspital, Associate Professor of the Department of Disaster Medicine and Military Medicine Oleh Liovkin worked at the Department of Emergency Medicine under the supervision of Professor Aristomenis Exadaktilos, and Professor of the Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Medical Psychology Vitaliy Pidlubnyi worked under the supervision of Professor Khrystyna Adoryan at the University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy.

The Embassy of Ukraine in Switzerland also supported the cooperation between the Ukrainian and Swiss universities.

It should be recalled that the international medical partnership initiative was launched last year at the Third Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen under the patronage of First Lady Olena Zelenska. Back then, 25 Ukrainian hospitals entered into partnerships with the world’s leading hospitals.

To date, a total of 57 memoranda of cooperation have been signed between Ukrainian and international healthcare institutions. The development of the initiative allows Ukrainian doctors to share their own experience and learn from the experience of their foreign colleagues to strengthen the healthcare sector in Ukraine.