TNMU Hosted Meeting of Partner Universities Members within the “Development of a Sustainable Public Health System” USAID Project
An meeting of representatives of partner universities within the framework of the “Development of a sustainable public health system” USAID project in the field of “Mental health and psychosocial services” to develop further activities was held on April 29, 2024 at Ternopil National Medical University.
Before the official opening of the event, a meeting was held with the Rector of TNMU, professor Mykhaylo Korda, the president of the National Psychological Association, Valeriia Palii, representatives of PACT, the national coordinator for mental health Iryna Semenko, the head of the direction of academic partnerships, Yana Chapailo, and the senior adviser on mental health, Khrystyna Kolesnyk. All parties discussed the main areas of cooperation and possible prospects for introducing new educational components into the educational process with the aim of forming students’ understanding of the basics of mental health. It was also about the training of teachers of TNMU Institute of Nursing to obtain basic knowledge and practical skills in maintaining mental health. Mykhaylo Korda spoke about the fact that Ternopil National Medical University received a license to conduct postgraduate education in the field of nursing, which will help develop a training course at the postgraduate level to enable all practicing nurses to deepen their knowledge of psychology and be adapted to work in war conditions.
The goal of the aforementioned project is to increase the capacity of the government of Ukraine to perform basic public health functions at the national, regional, and local levels. In the conditions of a full-scale war in Ukraine, the need for mental health care services has increased dramatically. Most people require low-intensity services, and all professionals who work directly with people should have a basic knowledge of mental health.
That is why it is extremely important to develop programs for training qualified and competent specialists in the field of psychosocial services. In order to strengthen the personnel potential, the project “Development of a sustainable public health system” is launching a program of cooperation between higher educational institutions of Ukraine and the USA to train a new generation of medical and non-medical specialists who have knowledge and skills in maintaining mental health.
On April 12-13, 2024, the first meeting was held to establish coordination and cooperation between Ukrainian and American universities. The orientation meeting was a continuation of getting to know each other, strengthening coordination and will serve as a platform for taking further steps in the partnership.
The event was opened by the Rector of TNMU, Professor Mykhaylo Korda. The meeting was attended by:
- the organizers of the project, the president of the National Psychological Association, Valeria Palii, representatives of PACT, the national coordinator for mental health Iryna Semenko, the head of the direction of academic partnerships, Yana Chapailo, and the senior adviser on mental health, Khrystyna Kolesnyk;
- representatives of the university – Vice-Rector for Education and Science, Professor Arkadii Shulhai, Director of the Academic and Research Institute of Nursing Svitlana Danchak, Deputy Director of the Institute of Nursing Vita Slavopas, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Narcology and Medical Psychology, Professor Olena Venger, Assistant Professor of the Department of Higher Nursing Education, Patient Care and Clinical Immunology Oksana Prokopchuk;
- representatives of partner Ukrainian universities;
- partners from Philadelphia, with whom the online connection was ensured.
During the meeting, there was an introduction to the representatives of Ukrainian universities teams that will be involved in the project, the development of further planned activities in the academic partnership in the direction of “Mental health and psychosocial services”, a discussion of opportunities and next steps within the framework of the academic partnership program.
The information was provided by Vita Slavopas.
Photographs by Yanina Chaikivska, Svitlana Danchak and the author.