Al Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) has launched the second phase of the development of a university’s research and educational biomedical cluster in collaboration with the of the Severance hospital at Yonsei University. This is a part of transforming KazNU into modern research university and addressing the global shortages of health professionals.
The new program will provide students access to two major facilities – a modern diagnostic center and the Higher School of Public Health (Faculty of Medicine), which would train medical personnel for undergraduate, graduate and doctoral programs. Students will study the management of modern medical facilities and infrastructure, and will have practical training at the operating unit and the medical departments, rehabilitation and screening centers, technical equipment of laboratories.
In order to expand medical training facilities, KazNU negotiated with the city administration transfer of the Clinical Hospital of Almaty City under KazNU management. Al Farabi KazNU envisions transforming the Clinical Hospital into the national center of advanced medicine in collaboration with a team of specialists from South Korea.
KazNU invited a delegation of the Severance hospital at Yonsei University, headed by Professor Lee Ben Sok, to visit the Clinical hospital. The collaboration between Almaty Clinical Hospital and Severance Hospital would provide the population of Almaty City and Almaty province access to high-quality international-level medical services was the main topic of the meeting between the rector and South Korean specialists with the staff of the medical institution.
“South Korea is considered to be the world leader in medicine. KazNU in partnership with the Severance Hospital at Yonsei University are working together to create a medical-biological cluster with a world-class clinic. The transfer of the city hospital to the trust management of the KazNU is aimed primarily at the integration of medical education, science and practice. International experience, knowledge and innovations will help make the hospital a center of advanced medicine and provide high-quality services to the population in accordance with high international standards,” Rector Galym Mutanov said.
General Director of the Severance Hospital, Lee Ben Sok, highly appreciated the well-functioning work of the registration and referral services of the Clinical Hospital, as well as the work of the rehabilitation center. “The main mission of a world-class medical institution is to provide comprehensive services from simple to complex. We intend to further develop our cooperation with the Kazakh National University and assist in the implementation of projects in the medical field” – said the guest.
The director of the KazNU Diagnostic Center, Ernest Kaliyev, delivered a report and briefed the audience on the current state of the Clinical Hospital. He noted that the Hospital offers good conditions for impatient hospital services, advanced diagnostic and treatment technologies are being actively introduced. He also spoke about the plans for joint work with the staff of other city hospitals and the joint projects with the involvement of foreign experts.
It should be noted that KazNU became the only university in Kazakhstan and Central Asia to open a new Higher School of Public Health (Faculty of Medicine) as a part of transformation KazNU into a research university and modernizing the educational programs in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century.