Strategic activity objectives for the 2022-2023 academic year

On August 30, 2022, senators of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy discussed the development objectives for the 2022-2023 academic year pursuant to the institution's Strategic Development Plan until 2030. One of the strategic objectives refers to the process of international accreditation of integrated higher education programs in Medicine, Stomatology and Pharmacy. In this context, between September 13-15, the University will be visited by an external evaluation commission of the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR) from Kazakhstan, authorized in this regard by the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).

The rector of the University, Professor Emil Ceban, has emphasized that even though Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy is the only medical and pharmaceutical higher education institution in the country, the administration is obliged to undertake  measures to propel the institution to become more competitive and attractive on the national and international market. "The status of an internationally accredited institution gives greater weight and visibility to the University, inspires confidence in young people interested in medical and pharmaceutical studies, as well as creates opportunities for sustainable partnerships with similar foreign institutions", highlighted the rector.

Senatorii Universității de Stat de Medicină și Farmacie „Nicolae Testemițanu” au discutat obiectivele de dezvoltare pentru anul universitar 2022-2023, în conformitate cu Planul strategic de dezvoltare al instituției până în anul 2030, în data de 30 august curent.

Another priority objective for the new academic year concerns the didactic activity. The main indicator of quality in the didactic process during the years of study resides in the evaluation results, and the final indicator is obtained at the graduation exams. In this sense, the mission of the deans' offices is to analyze and control this process, to ensure quality, including by checking the bachelor's theses through the anti-plagiarism program. During the reference period, the foundation of research laboratories for students is also expected, thus optimal conditions for participation in the research process will be created and the development of theses based on experimental data in all fields will be encouraged. It should be noted that from 2019 the knowledge assessment is carried out only through the University Management Information System, and the test results are objective.

In the scientific activity area, the revitalization of scientific circles for students was initiated, which represents an important way of implementing the principle of education through research in accordance with the Strategy for strengthening the field of research and innovation at Nicolae Testemitanu University for the next 10 years. Special emphasis will be placed on the promotion of the Moldovan Journal of Health Sciences, edited by the University, in which doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and scientific researchers will publish as many articles as possible.

The University management gives priority to clinical activity as well. It was stated that the persons involved in clinical activity -  competent specialists, who develop clinical medicine and who are at the forefront of Moldovan medicine - will be promoted at the university departments. It was  mentioned that an extra year of practical training in hospitals was added for international students.

At the same time, the expansion of the internationalization process and consolidation of collaborative relationships is imminent so that the University becomes even more visible on the national and international market. The rector emphasized that the active involvement of students, resident doctors and teaching staff is directly proportional to the increase in performance indicators, but also to the allocation of budgetary means. "On 3 of the 8 indicators established in the respective methodology, the University holds the first place among higher education institutions of the country. The implemented projects give us the opportunity to adjust the university management reform and modernize the infrastructure and services. Foreign experts, to whom we grant honorary titles, fully participate in concluding agreements and inter-institutional memoranda of understanding. We have scheduled meetings with personalities from other states and I want to encourage you all to get involved in these collaborative activities", pointed out Rector Emil Ceban.

For the proper functioning of the University from an economic and financial point of view, it is essential to further increase the budget funds by diversifying the study programs and improving the performance indicators that constitute the basis of the new budgetary financing methodology for the undergraduate, integrated and master's degree programs. The essence of this model lies in the fact that the standard funding is directly related to the number of budget students, active for each completed academic year. Another way to augment budget funds is to increase the number of subjects taught in international languages ​​for which the complexity indicator is 1.5, as well as their national accreditation. The new methodology involves compensatory funding that requires the achievement of eight performance indicators for 4 activity directions: teaching-learning, scientific research, internationalization and the social dimension. To this end, it is necessary to meet the following requirements: the diversification of bachelor's and integrated study programs, especially master's programs; increasing funds for scientific research, augmenting funds from international projects; increasing the number of mobilities and supplementing investment funds for the development of student hostels from own resources, but also from other external sources.

Another objective is the evolution in the national and international rankings. The rector reminded that Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy was ranked first among the country’s higher education institutions, present online globally, according to the Webometrics report published at the end of July 2022. At the same time, the University also holds the first place in the country’s institutional repositories ranking (June 2022). The repository of Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, managed by the Health Sciences Library, represents the digital university heritage of didactic, scientific publications and other types of documents. In this context, the rector encouraged the placement of publications in the Institutional Repository, which ensures free access to publications, promotes the Open Access to information movement, increases author visibility and citation numbers, while the web indicators contribute to increasing global visibility and scientific impact.

At the end of the meeting, the rector mentioned that all these actions "create the image of the University at the national and international level, and our common goal is to enhance the institutional visibility and contribute to increasing the prestige of Alma Mater".

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