Jan Kochanowski University wants to launch medical studies for foreigners

JKU rector Prof. Jacek Semaniak emphasised during a press conference on April 5 that training foreigners in one of the most prestigious courses of study "will change the image of the university, Kielce and Świętokrzyskie region". "It is being built our future cultural, professional, economic relations with our partners - because in the future some of the students will stay here, or will become ambassadors of the region beyond the borders of our country" - said the Semaniak.

Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences Prof. Stanisław Głuszek hopes that 30 people will study in the so-called English Division at the Faculty of Medicine in Kielce - students from European and American countries. "We are planning two study programs - six-year and six-year American, completed in four years. Students from the US can transcribe some medical classes that have completed in college in the US" - he explained.

According to Głuszek, the medical course at JKU to a large extent determines the development of the entire faculty, and good quality medical studies require "continuous work". "The needs of the training of doctors involve many requirements when it comes to the quality of teaching and research" - the dean emphasised.

He noted that the development department requires better cooperation with clinical units of the provincial hospitals - Świętokrzyskie Cancer Centre and the Regional General Hospital. "At the moment we have contracts that regulate this matter, but we want to raise this cooperation to a higher level of quality and structurally tie faculty members to clinics and other hospitals in the region, managed by the marshal of the province. We want the quality of our teaching and medicine to be more advanced" - explained Głuszek.

Next week a working group, composed of representatives JKU and hospitals will be appointed. Its tasks will include determining the development objectives of clinics for the coming years so that in the future they can perform medical procedures that they currently do not perform. "We feel responsible for the functioning of this course, and the issue of preparing personnel today is a strategic challenge for the future of the region" - said the Świętokrzyskie province marshal Adam Jarubas.

The regional government recently decided to transfer of 2 million zlotys from the province budget to the university. The money will be spent on necessary investments in the Faculty of Medicine. This includes support for the microbiology and physiology laboratories, the purchase of a scanner for scanning histological and pathological preparations and organizing a dermo-cosmetics lab.

Efforts to start medical studies in Kielce continued for many years - an initiative was born back in the 1980s. In the years 1968-1991 in Kielce, the 4th, 5th and 6th year students studied at the institute of clinical medicine, branch of the Academy of Medicine in Kraków. Part of them later became staff of the Institute of Medical Education at the Kielce university, which since 2005 functioned as the Faculty of Health Sciences.

For the purpose of training future doctors - with the support of EU funds - the university built and equipped a modern faculty building at the expense of 32 million. There are plans to use funds from the new EU financial perspective to expand the old building and its laboratories.

Medicine was the most popular course offered by the Kielce university during recruitment for the academic year 2015/2016. There were more than 40 candidates for each place at full-time studies. The university, in accordance with the limit set by the Ministry of Health, accepted 75 people. 50 more people can take this course in the framework of the so-called commercial studies.

The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences also educates students in nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy, emergency medical services, public health, cosmetology and physical education.

The Jan Kochanowski University in Kielce is the largest state university in the Świętokrzyskie region. It offers courses in 41 fields of study for more than 12.5 thousand people.

PAP - Science and Scholarship in Poland

ban/ dym/ mrt/

tr. RL