On January 10th – 11th, the final conference of the Erasmus+ project ChildCA – coordinated by the University of Pavia: Department of Clinical and Surgical, Diagnostic, and Pediatric Sciences and Center for Global Strategic Engagement (GLOBEC) – took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Prof. Gian Battista Parigi, project coordinator, and the GLOBEC staff, Alena Poilova and Martina Altea Bellinzona, took part in the event.
The event was held at Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University and gathered representatives from all partner countries, from the European Union and from Central Asian Republics, together with local authorities such as the National Erasmus+ Office coordinator of Uzbekistan, Aziza Abdurakhmanova.
The meeting involved several universities from three different countries in Central Asia:
- Kazakhstan:Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, and Kazakhstan’s Medical University “KSPH” (VSHOZ).
- Tajikistan: Avicenna Tajik State Medical University, the Institute of postgraduate education in health sphere of Republic of Tajikistan, and Khatlon Medical State University.
- Uzbekistan: Bukhara State Medical Institute, and Tashkent Pediatric Medical Institute.
During the two-day meeting, each partner university gave presentations about the project results in the context of their country.
The participants also displayed their experiences both in long-term and short-term training that simultaneously took place in Europe during September and October 2022 at the three European ChildCA partners – University of Pavia (Italy), Jagiellonian University (Poland), and Freiburg University (Germany).
The conference involved several students as well, and the UEMS (European Union of Medical Specialists) carried out students’ evaluation and exams.
The ChildCA project was able to achieve many crucial results that will contribute to improve the medical teaching and education of Central Asia Republics, such as:
- The development and implementation of 8 new curricula for post-graduate training in Paediatrics, Paediatric Surgery, and Child Neuropsychiatry; the full approval of 7 new curricula by local authorities, and the launch of 3 pilot degree courses at the Kazakh partner universities;
- The successful training of academic staff and clinicians from Kazakh, Tajik, and Uzbek Universities and the launch of 3 virtual training courses;
- The purchase of new equipment and the introduction of ICT technologies for interactive learning and education provided for the 8 Asian partner universities.
