In accordance with a cooperation agreement signed on Friday between Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Semmelweis University (SE), HMS will create and carry out a postgraduate clinical research training programme in Hungary. Semmelweis University’s website states that the HMS clinical research programme will begin in July 2023 and last until June 2026 for PhD students and post-doctoral fellows in Central Europe. The curriculum and training delivery will be handled by the US school, while SE has agreed to pay half of the tuition of 50 students annually, for which the institution has set aside a $250,000 budget. According to a press statement issued by SE, the programme will be expanded to include nearby nations so that specialists from various Central and Eastern European nations can take part. The participants of the programme will gain the knowledge and abilities necessary to carry out superior clinical research. The courses taught include professional leadership, biostatistics, medical ethics, and epidemiology. Three residential workshops will be held in addition to the program, the first in Budapest, the second online, and the third in Boston, speakers for the university said.
‘Harvard and Semmelweis Universities have different characteristics, roots, and cultures, and we are separated by an ocean,’ the press statement quoted SE Rector Béla Merkely as saying at the signing ceremony. However, the rector stressed, the two institutions ‘share the same mission and guiding principles in order to deliver the finest education at the highest level. Because of this’, he continued, ‘our partnership is as rewarding as it is natural. And with the introduction of a joint clinical research course, we hope to strengthen our partnership.’
Clinical research, according to a statement by HMS’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Ajay K. Singh, is a significant force behind healthcare innovation and enhances patient outcomes. ‘We are realizing the HMS mission of supporting a diverse and accepting community whose primary goal is to alleviate suffering, improve health and well-being, by providing high-impact training opportunities for healthcare professionals around the world,’ Ajay K. Singh remarked.
