{"id":47974,"date":"2026-04-30T06:00:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-30T04:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=47974"},"modified":"2026-04-29T12:06:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T10:06:48","slug":"cooperation-between-semmelweis-university-and-hospitals-gives-new-impetus-to-specialist-medical-training","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2026\/04\/cooperation-between-semmelweis-university-and-hospitals-gives-new-impetus-to-specialist-medical-training\/","title":{"rendered":"Cooperation between Semmelweis University and hospitals gives new impetus to specialist medical training"},"content":{"rendered":"
Semmelweis University is the first in the country to launch a hybrid resident-researcher program that, thanks to a strategic cooperation agreement signed with more than 30 stakeholders in the Hungarian healthcare system, simultaneously strengthens the next generation of professionals working both as doctors and researchers and raises the standard of patient care. Under the agreement, future physicians will not have to choose between clinical work and an academic career; they will be able to pursue their residency and PhD training simultaneously.<\/div>\n

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On the occasion of the ceremonial signing of the agreement between Semmelweis University and hospitals, outpatient clinics, and national institutes in Hungary, Rector Dr. B\u00e9la Merkely emphasized that the university continued to operate in accordance with the creed of its namesake, Ign\u00e1c Semmelweis. The essence of this is that scientific findings must be put to use at the bedside as soon as possible. This has also contributed to the fact that the university is now ranked 186th in the world in the field of medicine and health sciences, and that it is the leading higher education institution in the country and the region in its subject area as well as Hungary\u2019s largest healthcare provider.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThrough this strategic partnership, we can support the scientific and professional advancement of young resident doctors nationwide, thereby contributing to raising the overall standard of patient care in Hungary and strengthening scientific innovation capacity,\u201d Dr. B\u00e9la Merkely stated. Under the newly established hybrid resident-researcher program, residents working in various parts of the country can participate in Semmelweis University\u2019s PhD program, balancing their clinical and scientific work thanks to part-time employment permitted by law. He also mentioned that the most outstanding doctoral students and residents would be able to participate in Harvard Medical School\u2019s<\/a> 9-month postgraduate program focusing on clinical research, which is being offered for the fourth time this year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Scientific achievement, training, and innovation only become true values when they are reflected in the day-to-day care of patients, stressed Dr. P\u00e9ter Ferdinandy, Vice-Rector for Science and Innovations at Semmelweis University. In his presentation, he outlined the complexity of the university\u2019s doctoral program, which took shape after the leadership\u2019s decision to significantly expand the number of those working in research – and, within that group, PhD students. As he noted, the university\u2019s Doctoral College (DI) currently has approximately 1,200 students (nearly a third of whom are internationals), and almost one in five of them is enrolled in the Theoretical and Translational Medicine Division. Speaking about the flexibility of the Doctoral College of Semmelweis University, he underlined that students could begin their studies as early as during their undergraduate years, and they could choose between two types of cooperative doctoral training: the conventional PhD program and the research excellence doctoral training. Additionally, they may request the launch of an individual PhD program if they have a suitable research proposal.<\/p>\n

Among the achievements of the Center for Translational Medicine (TMK), he mentioned that during its five years of operation, it had evolved into a cooperative doctoral program and was now available at both the MSc and PhD levels, engaging more than 800 participants. Its students have produced nearly 500 scientific publications to date, with a cumulative impact factor of approximately 2,000. \u201cThis model is unique in the world, as it is a training and research system in which clinical practice and science do not compete with each other but develop in parallel,\u201d emphasized Dr. P\u00e9ter Ferdinandy. He added: \u201cWe are not simply building a program here, but a new generation for whom science and patient care form a unity.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This agreement marks the beginning of a new era in healthcare in Hungary; the training of the next generation of leaders that results from it will shape the future of the entire Hungarian healthcare system. – Dr. Attila Szab\u00f3<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Dr. Attila Szab\u00f3, Vice-Rector for Clinical Affairs at Semmelweis University, explained that in the traditional model decades ago, knowledge typically flowed from universities to hospitals through individuals.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cThe demands of the 21st century are different; we are different, we have changed, the next generation is different, and we are adapting to this,\u201d said the vice-rector. According to Dr. Attila Szab\u00f3, the programs in the Theoretical and Translational Medicine Division of Semmelweis University\u2019s Doctoral College uniquely combine residency training with a scientific PhD program, as participants can remain at their own hospitals while receiving guidance from both clinical and scientific mentors. He also stressed that the research workshops established in hospitals could support the daily work taking place there. \u201cThe physicians participating in this training may in the future become department heads, head physicians, or even leaders at their own institutions – individuals who have already grown up within this system and embody Semmelweis\u2019s translational approach,\u201d added Dr. Attila Szab\u00f3.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\u201cIt is our shared responsibility to link science and patient care, resulting in higher-quality patient care in hospitals and higher-quality science at universities,\u201d Dr. P\u00e9ter Hegyi, Director of the Center for Translational Medicine, highlighted in his presentation, during which he also outlined the conceptual and practical differences between exploratory research, translational research, and translational medicine. In his words, the beauty of translational medicine is that very often the patient benefits from it before the PhD degree is earned. Among the examples he listed was the work of the cystic fibrosis team at the Heim P\u00e1l National Pediatric Institute, which, upon observing vision problems and diabetic complications in 10-year-old patients, investigated what would happen if screening began as early as age 4. Within a year, one-third of the children were screened, placed on therapy, and no diabetic complications have developed as yet during the follow-up period. \u201cThe simplest way to predict the future is to shape it ourselves. Science provides the tools; education provides the people. Together, they unleash energies and synergies capable of improving the standard of patient care in Hungary at an unprecedented level of quality and speed,\u201d added Dr. P\u00e9ter Hegyi.<\/p>\n

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Semmelweis University\u2019s strategic goal is to attract talented students and researchers through the program, which will ensure a steady supply of highly skilled professionals in the long term. In this regard, Dr. P\u00e9ter Hegyi told our website that, based on preliminary interest, the number of applicants to the doctoral program in translational medicine could double, reaching as many as 150 per year. Institutions joining the hybrid resident-researcher program will become part of the national scientific network, thereby enhancing their professional prestige.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\r\n [slb_exclude]\r\n

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Melinda Katalin Kiss, \u00c9va Haiman
\nTranslation: Dr. Bal\u00e1zs Csizmadia
\nPhotos by Bogl\u00e1rka Zellei \u2013 Semmelweis University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Future doctors will thus be able to pursue their residency and PhD training simultaneously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":102369,"featured_media":47990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,286],"tags":[28],"class_list":["post-47974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-science","category-x-nyitolap","tag-education"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/102369"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47974"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47995,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47974\/revisions\/47995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}