KA -171 ERASMUS + PROGRAM 2022

Medical University – Sofia applied for and won a project under the Erasmus + Program (KA 171): “Educational mobility for citizens” projects for the mobility of students and staff in the field of higher education, involving third countries not associated with the program, with partnerships in three regions and four countries, namely: Morocco (region 3), Albania and Kosovo (region 1), South Africa (region 9).

The contract is numbered: 2022-1-BG01-KA171-HED-000074631.

The amount approved for financing is EUR 267 900

INTERNAL RULES FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF STUDENT, TEACHER AND ADMINISTRATIVE MOBILITY UNDER THE ERASMUS PROGRAM + KA 171 (2021 – 2027)

DOCUMENTS

Erasmus+ Project Funding (KA171) 01.08.2022 - 31.07.2025

ProjectBudgetStudents for STUDYStudents for TRAINEESHIPStaff for TEACHINGStaff for TRAININGBIP Events
2022-1-BG01-KA171-HED-000074631*2679001620361412
Albania1663201212121212 (students)
Kosovo34680612
Morocco18400242
South Africa410

*Общо: 98 мобилности за 3-годишен период

2022-1-BG01-KA171-HED-000074631: MEDICAL UNIVERSITY – SOFIA AND UNIVERSITY OF KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA.

Budget: EUR 48 500.00 

The project is a continuation and upgrade of a successfully implemented Erasmus + mobility project with the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The new proposal will lead to an even greater increase in the quality of teaching at both universities, an increase in the quality of student learning and an impact on the internationalization of curricula at the partner universities through the mobility of visiting students, on-site internationalization for host university students and the participation of lecturers in the lecture courses of the students from the respective host university.

Students, teachers and researchers from both universities will be introduced to the latest developments in the development of new, modern screening techniques to discover new biologically active plant sources, natural plant antioxidants that could become new lead structures or new drugs, the extracts should simultaneously be assessed by chemical screening and by various biological or pharmacological methods. The discussion and work on chemical colorimetric methods: DPPH, ABTS, FRAP, FTC for the determination of antioxidant activity, as well as methods for the evaluation of enzyme-inhibitory activity, will also continue.

Students will be presented with information on new directions in the search for new and safe biologically active substances (BAS) for the pharmaceutical and food industries. This trend is consistent with consumer demand for safe and effective BAVs, which is driven in part by access to high-quality health care and health information.

Of great benefit to the health and medical science of both countries will be the exchange of experiences and practices from the faculties of public health in the areas of Health policy and diplomacy during a pandemic, ethical aspects of the vaccination campaign with vaccines against COVID-19, vaccine resistance and epidemiology of COVID-19 in South Africa and Bulgaria, as well as the Digitization of education during a pandemic in both countries.

The exchange of doctoral students is of extreme importance and benefit for the transfer of the accumulated experience and knowledge to the sending university, because the accumulated expertise will be transferred to the master’s programs of the students of both universities.

The new project proposal envisages the implementation of 14 mobilities.

2022-1-BG01-KA171-HED-000074631: MEDICAL UNIVERSITY - SOFIA AND UNIVERSITY OF MEDICINE– TIRANA

Budget: EUR 166 320.00 

The project envisages starting with an exchange of teachers in the field of medicine and with incoming student mobility for the purpose of training/internship for the specialties of Medicine and Dentistry. Outgoing student mobility will be possible at a later stage of the cooperation, when the university introduces modules for parallel studies in English. In the field of medicine, the two institutions will interact in the areas of genetics, virology, microbiology, epidemiology and infectious diseases, and surgery. UMT has a strong interest in the exchange of good practices in the field of cardiology and cardiac surgery, where the MUS occupies leading positions in the country.

The selected type of mobilities regarding students and teachers in the field of dental medicine is consistent with the directions in which the two universities have a strong interest in developing and upgrading the educational and scientific resources: the training of students in the disciplines.

Propaedeutics of dental, oral and maxillofacial surgery is suitable for the upper courses after the third year of study, when young people show the greatest willingness to engage in international activities. Due to the absence of framework restrictions, the possibility of inclusion in mobility of recently graduated students, the so-called recent graduates, from the two specialties “Medicine” and “Dental Medicine”.

A possibility for BIPs funded by KA131, (short-term mixed mobility) has been agreed, and especially for the specialty “Medicine” it should be implemented on a winter/summer semester basis, with the option of attending online lectures and exercises online, but with a face-to-face part to some practical activities and especially when taking the final exams.

2022-1-BG01-KA171-HED-000074631: MEDICAL UNIVERSITY – SOFIA AND UNIVERSITY OF GJAKOVA “FEHMI AGANI” (UGJFA)

Budget: EUR 34 680.00 

The aim of the current mobility project is the development of academic relations between Medical University – Sofia and Dyakovo University in the field of education, innovation and scientific research, in order to overcome the challenges in the planning and training of health professionals, namely nurses and midwives in Bulgaria and Kosovo.

The implementation of the project will contribute to improving the quality of health care, increasing the employment of the population and economic growth in both countries and in the EU as a whole. Within the framework of the project, a methodology will be developed to increase the attractiveness of these professions and, above all, an attempt to retain young people and create conditions for their development in response to the serious labor shortage and the outflow of trained personnel abroad.

Adequately prepared healthcare professionals in these specialties are essential for efficient, accessible and sustainable healthcare systems. The analysis entitled “Health professional mobility in a changing Europe”[1] states that 40% of nurses and midwives state that they are not sufficiently qualified to carry out certain tasks, but at the same time 80% of them, declare that they are overqualified for other tasks, indicating a significant waste of human capital.

In implementation of the current mobility project, the Faculty of Public Health at MU-Sofia will share its experience in reorganizing the training programs for nurses and midwives in accordance with European directives and requirements. Also, professors from Faculty of Public Health will develop together with their colleagues plans to create master’s and doctoral programs.

In the accreditation reports of the programs of Fehmi Aghani University, it is stated that nursing and midwifery students should continue their studies in master’s and doctoral degrees, which will increase their professional qualifications and contribute to their career development. In its turn, this will be a prerequisite for the retention of health professionals in the health care system of Kosovo, since the country is undergoing processes of outflow of labor abroad and shortage of personnel.

There are 18 mobilities foreseen under the project, including teachers and students.

2022-1-BG01-KA171-HED-000074631: MEDICAL UNIVERSITY - SOFIA AND SIDI MOHAMED BEN ABDELLAH UNIVERSITY, FEZ CITY, MOROCCO

Budget:  EUR 18 400.00 

The two partner universities already have one successfully implemented project under the Erasmus+ program – KA 107 (educational international mobility aimed at students, teaching and non-teaching staff from higher schools from/to Program and Partner countries of the Erasmus+ Program).

The aim of the current project proposal is to build on the excellent results achieved by the first project by increasing and expanding mobilities, including students

Subsequently, based on the established inter-institutional connections and personal contacts, the presence of Medical University – Sofia in this part of the world – the MAGREB region, will be given the opportunity to be expanded through agreements with other leading scientific institutions in this dynamically developing part of the world.

The mutual trust built between the universities based on bilateral visits of professors to the universities at the invitation of the faculties to participate in lecture events, within the framework of the first cooperation, managed to generate spaces for joint actions in the areas of mutual interest.

During the implementation of the first project, a collaboration was formed between the Department of Social Medicine at the Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Public Health. The current project will provide an opportunity to deepen cooperation in the field of social medicine, epidemiology, oncology and dietetics. It is planned to conduct a parallel study by the students and the teachers in order to compare prevention programs and health policies, with an emphasis on oncological diseases.