The Medical University of Graz has been cooperating with the Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS) in Nepal since 2009 within the framework of student and staff exchanges as well as research cooperation. Since 2019, this cooperation has been supported by funding from the Erasmus+ International Credit Mobility program (KA107/KA171). The Global Health and Development Group of Med Uni Graz accompanies projects with KUSMS in seminars and annual lectures in special study modules (SSM).
The cooperation, which focuses on the fields of pediatrics, pediatric surgery and pediatric radiology to improve medical care for newborn and children in Nepal, was recently expanded by initiatives of the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, the Institute of Nursing Science, and the Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology and will further grow in these areas.
Dentistry
In 2019, Wolfgang Zemann from the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery gave lectures and case discussions on oral and maxillofacial surgery topics at the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at KUSMS and initiated a collaboration in the field of dentistry, which led to a return visit and training visit by Prof. Chandan Upadhyaya from KUSMS to the Division of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in 2023 after a COVID-related delay. The collaboration in teaching and research in the field of dental surgery was continued at the beginning of this year with a teaching visit at KUSMS by Barbara Kirnbauer from the Division of Oral Surgery and Orthodontics. The focus of her teaching activities was on oral surgery, oral radiology and implantology. The Department of Dental Medicine and Oral Health is currently making efforts to involve dentistry students from Med Uni Graz in the projects and to enable study-related stays abroad at Dhulikhel Hospital and its Outreach Health Centers.
Nursing & nursing science
In the field of nursing, two pediatric nurses and a pediatrician from the pediatric intensive care unit of Dhulikhel Hospital were able to complete a three-week observership in the intensive care units of the Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery and the Division of Neonatology of the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine in 2022 with the aim of improving the care of infants and children in the intensive care units of the pediatric clinic of Dhulikhel Hospital and reducing the still high mortality rates. KUSMS offers study programs including a four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing, a four-year Bachelor in Nursing Science and a two-year Master of Science in Nursing and would like to develop further with regard to evidence-based nursing intervention. A cooperation agreement between the Medical University of Graz and KUSMS, which was recently signed, will enable the exchange of students and lecturers/scientists in future, as well as research cooperation in the field of nursing science. Students of the MA Nursing Science at Med Uni Graz have the opportunity to complete four-week research stays for their thesis at KUSMS and to gain practical hands-on experience in the field of nursing at Dhulikhel Hospital during their stays.
Pathology
An Erasmus+ traineeship at the Graz Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology under the supervision of Iva Brcic in summer 2023 by a student in residency training in pathology at KUSMS and Dhulikhel Hospital led to a cooperation between Med Uni Graz and KUSMS in the field of pathology. Iva Brcic visited KUSMS in winter 2023 and gave lectures on gastrointestinal pathology and bone pathology. In addition, numerous interesting, highly instructive cases from these areas of pathology were viewed and discussed under the microscope and online (digitized cases). Since this stay, Med Uni Graz and KUSMS colleagues have been working together cooperatively and challenging cases have been discussed by email. Next summer, another KUSMS student in residency training will complete a traineeship at the Diagnostic and Research Institute of Pathology at Med Uni Graz.
Further planned activities
Two further traineeships of KUSMS students in residency training at Med Uni Graz are planned for 2024: one at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the other at Division of General, Visceral and Transplant Surgery. Furthermore, a doctor from the Department of ENT at Dhulikhel Hospital will carry out a six-week observership at the Division of General Otorhinolaryngology in fall 2024 in order to receive further training in the field of endoscopic/minimally invasive ENT procedures. Two Med Uni Graz students will complete parts of their clinical practical year at Dhulikhel Hospital in the fall. Funded teaching and/or training stays at KUSMS within the framework of Erasmus+ will be advertised for Med Uni Graz staff in April 2024.
Dhulikhel Hospital
The independent, non-profit, non-governmental Dhulikhel Hospital is an academic teaching hospital of KUSMS and is active in the training of doctors and nurses. It is located around 30 kilometers outside the capital Kathmandu and provides medical care to around 2.7 million people in the rural region. Dhulikhel Hospital runs numerous Outreach Health Centers which are located far away from any medical care and are regularly visited by a team of doctors and nurses to treat the local population. For funding, Dhulikhel Hospital relies primarily on donations from all over the world. Dr. Lutz Stroedter from the Department of Paediatric and Adolescent Surgery has been supporting the paediatric department at Dhulikhel Hospital since 2006 through various projects to set up a paediatric surgery department and improve medical care for children in the districts around Dhulikhel.
