Online education on care for people with dementia. That is the area, which the experts from Faculty of Medicine are currently cooperating on with their colleagues from University of Tasmania. As a support of the cooperation of both universities, ambassador of the Commonwealth of Australia for the Czech Republic H.E. Lloyd Brodrick came to visit Brno.
On Wednesday, 28th July 2021, a Vice-Dean for Healthcare Study Programmes and Information Technology prof. PhDr. Andrea Pokorná, Ph.D. welcomed him at the premises of the University Campus. A representative from the Australian Government’s trade and investment development agency, Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) PhDr. Zdenka Kotalová also attended the meeting.
The meeting focused on informing about joint activities of Masaryk University, mainly the Faculty of Medicine, and the Australian colleagues from University of Tasmania, namely from the Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre in Hobart. The main area of cooperation is the preparation of implementation strategy for online education on care for people suffering from dementia (Massive Online Open Course Understanding Dementia) under the expert patronage of the FM MU. This course is an example of “best practice” within the National Action Plan for Alzheimer's disease and similar diseases, therefore there is a guarantee of its nationwide implementation. Furthermore, it is also connected to other expert activities of the FM MU and cooperating workplaces of university hospitals. The cooperation between the universities was confirmed in April of 2019 within the Memorandum of Understanding, which was extended this year.
Part of the project is also the preparation of the so-called Launch Event with the attendance of representatives from the South Moravian Region, the City of Brno, Ministry of Health and the B-Braun company. Further possibilities of academic cooperation between Czech and Australian experts were discussed as well, not only in the area of geriatric care, but also in other areas of gaining experience in professional education of healthcare workers.
Brno Ph.D. Competition Talent, which annually supports promising male and female natural sciences and engineering students, brought joy to the Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University this year. Among the 25 selected students who received an extraordinary scholarship of CZK 360,000 for three years, six PhD students from this faculty succeeded.
Amidst the hustle and bustle and fatigue of the end of the year, there is an opportunity to pause, reflect on the achievements and step into the next year with gratitude and hope.
