The George Washington University (GW) School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS) and the GW School of Nursing have entered a five-year partnership with Semmelweis University in Budapest, Hungary. The partner organizations will collaborate on academic and research initiatives aimed at developing exchange programs and interprofessional educational for faculty and students in Nursing and Health Sciences at both institutions.
“We are excited about this new partnership for so many reasons. The health professions education taking place at Semmelweis is complimentary to what is happening at GW, and we identified numerous opportunities for synergistic collaborations in research. Faculty from both institutions bring diverse clinical skills, cultural perspectives, and practical experience in the starkly different models for health care delivery in the U.S. and Hungary. We have a lot to learn from each other and through this partnership, unlimited opportunities exist to create high impact educational experiences for our students,” said Reamer L. Bushardt, PharmD, PA-C, DFAAPA, senior associate dean for health sciences at SMHS.
The goals of the partnership include harmonizing research plans and creating joint grant submissions. The collaboration also includes conducting faculty and student exchange programs. In addition, GW lecturers will go to Semmelweis University to train professors to enhance their performance in online and blended education, as well as clinical simulations. GW will also integrate Semmelweis University in the GW Collaboratory, which is a mostly virtual environment where stakeholders work and communicate to achieve an understanding of complex health related issues, design innovations and solutions, participate as collaborators, and improve health and health care. The goal of the GW Collaboratory is to study the role of knowledge translation and promote learning in health care environments.
“Our main goal is to expand the knowledge of our learners, and we are very pleased to be partnering with Semmelweis University to offer development opportunities in the U.S. and in Budapest. It is vitally important to have an understanding of the processes and procedures used in health professions education and practice across the globe, and this partnership enables us to join forces and improve the health care system together,” said Pamela Jeffries, PhD, RN, FAAN, ANEF, FSSH, dean of the GW School of Nursing.
The partnership agreement was signed in April 2019. It is a five-year agreement and over the next year, both institutions will plan and host face-to-face interactions, including joint programming during summer 2020.