Semmelweis University’s internationalization efforts and cross-border knowledge transfer are facilitated by, among other things, the more than 200 bilateral cooperations that the institution maintains with higher education partners across five continents. The most recent stage of network building included negotiations in Santiago de Chile and Lima at the end of January to increase Semmelweis University’s presence on the continent. As Rector Dr. Béla Merkely emphasized, the institution, having recognized the region’s increasing role in the world, intends to expand its engagement in Central and South America, where so far it has only cooperated with four countries.
The delegation was welcomed to Universidad de Chile by President Rosa Devés Alessandri, the first female rector of the institution. Founded in 1842, the university is the oldest higher education institution in the country and is considered one of the most prestigious and traditional universities in Latin America.
Rector Dr. Béla Merkely also had a meeting with Dr. Jorge Jalil, President of the Chilean Society of Cardiology (SOCHICAR), and visited the Department of Cardiology of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile Clinic. The delegation paid a visit to the headquarters of the Chilean subsidiary of the Richter Group, where Marcelo Flores Clavijo, Managing Director of Gedeon Richter Chile, presented the division’s activities.
In parallel with the rector’s agenda, Dr. Andrea Zsebe, Dean of the András Pető Faculty, and Dr. Éva Szabó Feketéné, Vice-Rector for Strategy and Development, met the management of the Teletón Rehabilitation Institute and visited the Centro Amancay, the Colegio Amapolas, and the Pequeño Cottolengo rehabilitation schools, where they were introduced to families participating in the Pető pilot project.
Later, the university delegation consulted with Lilian Ferrer, Vice President for International Affairs, at the main campus of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (UC Chile), and was then received by President Ignacio Sánchez Díaz. The negotiations concluded with extending the 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between the András Pető Faculty and UC Chile’s Faculty of Medicine, which now enables collaboration at the university level, mainly through teaching and research collaboration, as well as student, researcher, and faculty mobility through the Pannonia Scholarship Programme.
Commenting on the agreement, Rector Dr. Béla Merkely stressed:
We intend to increase the existing cooperation in the field of conductive pedagogy, extend the student and staff mobility exchange program to the fields of medicine, dentistry, and pharmaceutical sciences, enhance cooperation in clinical and basic research, and organize short intensive training programs for students and healthcare professionals at Semmelweis University.
On behalf of UC Chile, President Ignacio Sánchez Díaz recalled that their institution had undergone significant development over the last 10-15 years, with an increasing emphasis on international outreach. As he pointed out, one of the main missions of the institution was to foster integration, partly through sensorimotor development, in which the joint work with Semmelweis University was considered a milestone.
Following the signature ceremony, Rector Dr. Béla Merkely negotiated with Felipe Heusser, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, while Dean Dr. Andrea Zsebe and Vice-Rector Dr. Éva Szabó Feketéné discussed the possibilities of introducing the Pető Method with Daniela Véliz, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Education, and Cecilia Assael, Director of Pedagogy in Special Education. The meetings were followed by a round-table discussion on health innovation at the university’s San Joaquín campus, in the framework of which Rector Dr. Béla Merkely gave an insight into innovations in cardiology, while Dean Dr. Andrea Zsebe outlined the innovative rehabilitation possibilities offered by the Pető Method.
The visit to Chile concluded with a reception hosted by Ambassador Edit Bucsi-Szabó at the Embassy of Hungary in Santiago, where university leaders had the opportunity to meet Hungarian medical professors with ties to Hungary.
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In Lima, the Semmelweis University delegation was received at Cayetano Heredia University (UPCH) by President Dr. Enrique Castañeda Saldaña and members of the leadership. UPCH plays a prominent role in medical and health sciences education at the national level; through international collaborations, it has gained a global reputation in research related to public health and tropical diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and dengue fever.
As part of the meeting, the leaders of the two universities signed a renewable memorandum of understanding for a period of five years as well as a bilateral agreement within the framework of the Pannónia Scholarship Programme. Under the agreements, a student and faculty mobility program will be launched between the two institutions; the parties also agreed to launch joint research projects; and explore the possibility of organizing joint conferences, symposia, seminars, and workshops.
Following the signing of the agreements, members of the Semmelweis University delegation visited the Medical Simulation Center and the university’s state-of-the-art research laboratories.
The Semmelweis University delegation also visited St. Ignatius of Loyola University (USIL), where they met with Rector Dr. Jorge Talavera Traverso and the university’s leadership. USIL has nearly 19,000 students and more than 320 international partners. The memorandum of understanding signed between Semmelweis University and USIL during the visit, similarly to the agreement concluded with UPCH, includes a student and faculty mobility program between the two institutions, joint research projects, and the organization of joint conferences, symposia, seminars, and workshops. To conclude the program, the Semmelweis University delegation visited the Health Sciences Research Center.
The final stop of the program in Peru was a visit to the directorate general of the national health insurance provider EsSalud, as well as to Edgardo Rebagliati Martins National Hospital, the country’s most important public hospital complex. The Hungarian delegation was received by Dr. María Elena Aguilar Del Águila, Executive President of EsSalud, and Dr. Francisco Zambrano Reyna, Director of Edgardo Rebagliati Martins National Hospital. During the visit, Dr. Béla Merkely said that the hospital had deservedly become Peru’s number one healthcare facility, and that this achievement reflected a commitment to healthcare and a professional attitude to which both institutions attached great importance.
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Dr. Balázs Csizmadia, Judit Szabados-Dőtsch
Image credit: Samuel Díaz Colmenares – UC Chile, Dr. Béla Merkely (Facebook), Embajada de Hungría en Lima (Facebook)
