At the end of April this year, a bilateral cooperation agreement was signed between the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University (VU MF) and the International Higher School of Medicine (IHSM) in Kyrgyzstan. Based on the agreement, VU MF has undertaken to contribute to the development of the rehabilitation system in Kyrgyzstan. “In the countries with an effective rehabilitation system, health indicators are significantly better,” Prof. Dr Natalja Istomina, Director of the VU MF Institute of Health Sciences said. The professor, together with Dr. Tomas Aukštikalnis, Head of the VU MF Department of Rehabilitation, Physical and Sports Medicine, agreed to discuss the agreement in more detail.
Student and lecturer exchanges and joint projects
According to Prof. Istomina, this is the first such agreement with a university in Kyrgyzstan. “In the past, we actively cooperated with Kazakhstan with an aim to improve their healthcare system. Now Kazakhstan, in line with EU directives, is rapidly improving in the training of doctors, nurses and other health professionals. Other countries in the Middle East, such as Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, have also expressed their wish to follow Kazakhstan’s path in the development of medicine, nursing and public health sciences. These countries are striving to follow European directives to achieve high quality in medical education and practice,” the professor noted. Some time ago, more developed countries (the European Union Member States and Scandinavian countries, the USA, and the United Kingdom) helped Lithuania, and now we have the opportunity to pay it forward by helping others.
When asked how the cooperation started, Prof. Istomina mentioned the Department of Rehabilitation, Physical and Sports Medicine as the main initiator of the relationship: Dr. Asel Usenova, the Vice-Rector of the IHSM in Kyrgyzstan, who is a paediatric neuroscientist, and Prof. Dr. Elena Kim, were invited to visit VU MF. “During the visit, we discussed the possibility of student exchanges for internships, the prospect of reciprocal exchanges for lecturers, and cooperation in the field of medical studies and research projects. The primary goal of the cooperation was providing help from VU rehabilitation specialists – rehabilitation doctors, physiotherapists and occupational therapists – in development of a rehabilitation system in Kyrgyzstan,” the professor explained. According to Prof. Istomina, research shows that professional rehabilitation has a significant impact on a patient’s recovery, but Kyrgyzstan does not currently have any rehabilitation system. In the longer term, cooperation could be expanded. “At the moment, the Lithuanian Ministry of Health is particularly concerned about the shortage of nurses in our country. Perhaps such cooperation will contribute to filling this gap as some nurses from Kyrgyzstan may decide to stay in Lithuania and integrate into the country’s labour market.”
Dr. Asel Usenova, the Vice-Rector of the IHSM in Kyrgyzstan, who is a paediatric neuroscientist, and Prof. Dr. Elena Kim, were invited to visit VU MF / © Prof. Natalja Istomina
Plans include study programmes in English
Dr. Aukštikalnis maintained that the guests from Kyrgyzstan were actively interested in the rehabilitation system in Lithuania, and in doctoral, master’s and bachelor’s degree programmes available in our country. “Kyrgyzstan wishes to develop a rehabilitation system, but does not know which model to choose: Lithuanian, Norwegian, or perhaps create its own model. Currently, there are no qualified teams with a rehabilitation specialist or other relevant specialists in Kyrgyzstan, so the guests were also interested in how such a team could be established,” the rehabilitation specialist explained and was happy that Prof. Dr. Juozas Raistenskis, the Head of the Children’s Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre at the VU Hospital Santaros Klinikos, was also interested in the visit and in the cooperation opportunities.
Researchers from VU MF and IHSM exchanged contacts and shared their expectations. It is expected that soon the citizens of Kyrgyzstan will have an opportunity to come to Lithuania and study rehabilitation, physiotherapy and occupational therapy on the basis of individual modules, and subsequently, perhaps, to study in our study programmes. According to Prof. Aukštikalnis, IHSM students in Kyrgyzstan would like to study in condensed programmes in Lithuania, however VU MF is currently unable to offer such programmes. “This visit might therefore be the first step towards the development of English language study programmes in rehabilitation, physiotherapy or occupational therapy.”