Representatives of MU-Varna participated in an online conference of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA) entitled "How to make a future health workforce happen? Policy, practice and people". The event took place on June 18 and 19, 2020.
The conference included four main panels:
- COVID-19 –what to learn for a future health workforce?
- How to plan the future health workforce? Results from the SEPEN tender
- How to educate the health workforce and improve leadership?
- How to manage transnational mobility of the future health workforce?
Over 100 experts from 28 countries took part in the online conference. The Director Directorate "International Relations, Accreditation and Quality" Prof. Todorka Kostadinova was invited to participate in the third panel of the event and introduced the audience to the education of the future health workforce (physicians, dentists, pharmacists, laboratory assistants and others) in the Medical University of Varna during the state of emergency and the specific conditions related to COVID – 19. In the context of the presentations during the sessions, Prof. Kostadinova emphasized the mental health, the place of global health in medical education and the need for leadership. Prof. Kostadinova also made some proposals for joint actions with the Higher Medical School in Hanover (Germany) to conduct a study on the management of long-term care according to the model already implemented at the University of Hanover. The second proposal was to share library resources among European universities in certain areas and specific topics. She backed the views of her colleagues and commented on the need for the professionalization of human resources in public health, leadership and management of training programs, research work in continuing professional development.
The participants in the virtual conference agreed on the conclusion that the mobility of health professionals cannot be considered only as a problem on the labor market, but a cross-sectoral approach to process management is needed. Public health can no longer operate at national level, but requires action on a global scale and the strengthening of European solidarity, especially in the situation of pandemic and the changes that have taken place in all aspects of the personal, professional and public life of people around the world.
