Dr. Béla Merkelypointed out that one of the most important virtues of Semmelweis University is its internationality, and this year the institution is celebrating the 40th anniversary of international medical education. „We have been on this journey for 40 years, and the agreement we have just signed is an important milestone,” he said.
The rector also noted that in this year’s Times Higher Education rankings, Semmelweis University has been ranked among the 250 best universities in the world. It takes the 236th place to be precise, making it the leading higher education institution of the country and the Central and Eastern European region. „This success is a credit to Hungary as a whole, to the Hungarian medical and healthcare profession, to Hungarian researchers, and will benefit all our partners,” Dr. Béla Merkely stressed.
President of the Wenzhou Medical University, Xiaokun Li highlighted the necessity of speeding up the reception of high-end resources from abroad. “With the rapid development of world economic unification, international exchanges in the field of medicine are becoming more and more frequent, improving our abilities and promoting medical quality by strengthening international exchanges have become important strategies in the construction of modern hospital management,” he said.
The president also stressed that strengthening the construction of hospital talent-team is the foundation of hospital development. Under the increasingly severe reform pressure and development challenges faced by hospitals, it is particularly critical to strengthen the construction of expert team.
The People’s Hospital has issued a “peak-climbing plan” to comprehensively promote the development of hospital specialist talents. “How to effectively implement these policies as soon as possible, and accelerate the development of talent teams is an important issue that we need to think about. The signing of this translational medicine project today provides a way to solve this problem,” Xiaokun Li said.
Dr. Péter Hegyi, Director of the Centre for Translational Medicine emphasized that their main vision is to bring science into healthcare by reforming the education of the next generation of health professionals. In the last two years, a total of 165 PhD students have entered and started approximately 300 projects at Semmelweis University. The blended education model and the very close project follow-up at the centre allows to conduct research at the highest level.
„By signing this contract, we are building a bridge between tradition and innovation by representing the spirit and tradition of PhD education, while revolutionising it with a modern professional educational background and a unique scientific and teaching approach,” the director said.
Before the framework of this cooperation took shape, Quzhou Hospital affiliated to Wenzhou Medical University had already carried out fruitful preliminary interaction with Semmelweis University in Hungary. This summer 12 young Chinese core clinicians participated in the 4-week online learning and training of the Translational Medicine GATE program.
Dr. Felix Y. Xu, a former learner enrolled in the GATE program, later the contactor and coordinator for the cooperation, said that as a voracious researcher in the field of Urology he wants to extend the field of research from the laboratories into the clinical settings.
„All the 12 GATE program learners from Quzhou People’s Hospital have already equipped with the foundational framework and concepts of translational medicine as well as its basic investigation approaches, through the guidance and assistance of the tutors in the Center for Translational Medicine,” he explained.
Dean of the Quzhou Health Commission, Lijun Liao called the signing of the cooperation between Quzhou People’s Hospital and Semmelweis University a milestone indicating that the partnership has entered a substantial phase.
He emphasized how much he believes in mutual success between the parties, that both of them could carry out the agreement effectively, deepening, enriching, and facilitating the future cooperation, as well as promoting the translation of the cooperation into people’s benefits and happiness.
He also said that Quzhou People’s Hospital has been highly focused on by the health industry with its first-class clinical facilities and advanced medical equipment since its operation on the new site. „All aspects of work have been accelerated into the “fast track” of development with the immense supports from Wenzhou Medical University,” he added.
He also stressed that Semmelweis University is a highly honorable international medical institute, with grand goals and views, educating a great number of academic elites for a lot of countries during its long history.
Dr. Gábor Varga, Deputy Director for General Operation and Education of the TMK stressed that today, it is of paramount importance to create cooperation between countries and continents, because sharing our knowledge can make us capable of incredible things.
„At this ceremony we have laid the foundations for a fruitful cooperation for boths sides. I wish us all the best of luck in our joint work towards achieving oustanding results,” he concluded.
Viktória Kiss, Gábor Kiss
Photo: Attila Kovács – Semmelweis University
