Rīga Stradiņš University to open second branch abroad

On Wednesday 20 September, Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) and Azienda Sanitaria di Bolzano hospital in Bolzano, located in Northern Italy, signed a cooperation agreement on the establishment of a RSU branch that will operate as a RSU clinical training centre. This is the second clinical training centre abroad to be established by RSU. The first branch was opened almost two years ago in the academic Lukas Hospital (Lukaskrankenhaus) in the city of Neuss, Germany.

In the frame of the agreement, in summer of this academic year, RSU 5th year students will undertake a three-month placement in the hospital in Bolzano, containing 800 hospital beds. The agreement provides for the attraction of RSU students to another seven hospitals in South Tyrol.

Students will have the opportunity to acquire skills in surgery, internal diseases or a specialisation of the student’s own choice, as well as to volunteer. After successful completion of the placement, students will be granted credit points. A wide variety of skills and competences acquired during the placement will be coordinated with the RSU study process. This will provide for the implementation of high quality RSU study programmes.

“Rīga Stradiņš University is an up-to-date European institution of higher education that is open for cooperation, therefore, strengthening of cooperation with hospitals abroad is a logical step in the development path of RSU”, said RSU rector Professor Aigars Pētersons, stressing that “cooperation between RSU and Bolzano hospital turns a new page in RSU medical education. Our students – the core value of the university – will be the winners. They will have an opportunity to get more extensive experience and acquire new skills in an international environment.”

An increased interest from students from Italy in RSU study programmes has been observed over the past years. The majority of them come from Bolzano, where the name of RSU is well known. Due to the positive feedback of students on placement in the hospital in Germany, the RSU leadership team and Bolzano region representatives decided to strengthen mutual cooperation and open up for students the opportunity to undertake placement in one of the most modern hospitals in Italy. In the coming years, RSU is planning to open other clinical training centres abroad, for example, in Scandinavia, Israel and elsewhere in Germany. Over the past years a number of RSU local and international students have undertaken placement in partner hospitals abroad.