World Bank to develop a human resources strategy in health sector for the Republic of Moldova

Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy of the Republic of Moldova participates in a study on the provision of human resources for the national health system. The study is carried out at the initiative of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova with the support of the World Bank, with the aim of identifying the deficiencies of the system that cause the exodus of medical personnel and staff shortages in institutions providing medical services. 

In this context, David Cochrane, a World Bank expert, and international consultant in the field of human resources for the healthcare sector, visited our institution and had a meeting with rector Emil Ceban and other representatives of the administrative team, to learn about the specifics of the activity, problems, and challenges in higher medical education.

The WB expert has informed that now he is collecting data and facts to understand the specifics of the medical system in our country. He is conducting interviews with key people from different medical institutions, to later draw up a program or a strategy for the development of human resources in the health area for the Republic of Moldova. During the meeting with the University representatives, the WB expert emphasized that they were the most appropriate people to share knowledge and experience with, but also the challenges and problems faced by the system in the medical personnel sector.

In this context, Rector Emil Ceban has specified that the University, through its mission, vision, and development strategy, is the institution that trains highly qualified professionals for the national health system and other countries. During their studies, students benefit from modern study and research conditions: classrooms and research laboratories endowed with high-performance equipment. The practical activity of medical professionals is carried out in 95 university clinics, located in republican and municipal health institutions, where modern methods of training healthcare specialists are implemented. After graduation, most of them are assigned to health institutions in the territory, but young specialists are reluctant to accept such offers. For this reason, a large part of graduates of bachelor's or integrated studies prefer to continue their studies outside the country, usually in Romania. The Romanian state absorbs almost half of our graduates through the residency program, but also medical specialists who work on healthcare night shift jobs. The representatives of the Ministry of Health and Nicolae Testemitanu University are making efforts to create opportunities for professional development and working conditions for young specialists in public medical and sanitary institutions of the country. Also, it is mandatory that the state internship of graduate students and resident doctors takes place in the territory, according to the place of residence, so that later, young specialists are motivated by the management of regional hospitals and family doctor centers to remain to work in rural areas where health institutions face staff shortages and people need qualified medical assistance.

"The university has the capacity to train medical specialists for the entire health system, for this purpose we are introducing new specialties, adjusting the curricula according to European and American standards. We are the only university in the country that managed to obtain international institutional accreditation, including for three integrated study programs: Medicine, Stomatology and Pharmacy. That's why we express our openness and willingness to provide unconditional support to the WB project that pursues the common goal of staffing the local medical system", stated the rector.

The WB expert was interested to learn more about Nursing. The vice-rector for didactic activity, Olga Cernețchi, mentioned that the Nursing undergraduate study program was developed with partners from the state of North Carolina (USA). This year, the University will launch the second class of nurses with higher education, and to ensure the continuous training of these graduates, an advanced Nursing master's program will be initiated.