Dr. Mihai COVAȘĂ, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at USV Suceava, at FERM 2025: “We cannot talk about health programs without clinical partners”

REGIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM MOLDOVA 2025

19th Edition – Vatra Dornei, July 9–13, 2025

Thematic Panel:

Speaker:
Dr. Mihai Covașă, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences at the “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava

Topic of the presentation:
“Training of Medical Staff in the Moldova Region. Cooperation with Hospitals in Neighboring Counties”

In a frank and thoroughly reasoned intervention, Dr. Mihai Covașă, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Biological Sciences at the “Ștefan cel Mare” University of Suceava, offered a complex overview of the current challenges and needs in the training of medical staff in the Moldova Region. He emphasized the need for a real partnership between universities, hospitals, and the private sector, as well as the major dysfunctions that hinder the development of the system.

From One Person to Eight Study Programs

“We started with one person – myself – together with former Vice-Rector Graur, and we launched the first programs in health: nutrition and dietetics, balneophysiotherapy. Then we evolved. Currently, we have eight programs, seven of which are at the undergraduate level, including general nursing, dental technology, biology, biochemistry, and, more recently, the medicine program. At the master’s level, we offer nutrition and medical recovery.”

Dean Mihai Covașă emphasized that the establishment of the medicine program was not an act of competition, but a response to a real need: “I’ve said it every time – we didn’t create it to compete with other universities. We don’t need to compete. Our mission is to educate people.”

Lack of Equity in the Allocation of Educational Resources

In the dean’s view, Romania faces a profoundly inequitable distribution of medical and educational resources: “In five counties, almost all the doctors in Romania are concentrated. In the northeast area, we didn’t have a single medical program. We are the only one established in the last 30 years. And unfortunately, not everyone agreed with it – and I’m referring to those in the academic field.”

Covașă also criticized the way the state allocates budgeted study places: “This allocation is not based on actual needs. The same geographic areas and the same universities continue to be financed. We train doctors and then export them. What motivation does a medical student have to stay in Romania? In other countries, you can’t become a doctor without paying. Here, you become a doctor on public money and then leave.”

Partnership with Hospitals – an Essential Condition

A key element in the practical training of students is collaboration with hospitals: “The County Hospital is our trusted partner. We have 12 integrated clinical departments and we aim to integrate the entire hospital. We cannot talk about medical programs without clinical partners. Our students must train in every department.”

Applied Research and Support During the Pandemic

Dr. Covașă also highlighted the important role of USV in research activity: “We have a very robust research program, worth tens of millions of euros, particularly in molecular biology and sequencing. We were the first academic institution to establish a metagenomics lab on bacteria. During the pandemic, we helped the County Hospital develop its molecular biology lab, when they had no testing capacity.”

The faculty also collaborates internationally: “We have partnerships with the University of Medicine in Chișinău and with two universities in the United States, through PNRR projects.”

Systemic Issues: No Dietitians in Hospitals, No Recovery Spaces

“Without nutrition, there is no healthy society. We were among the first to establish nutrition programs and we are training dietitians. Unfortunately, hospitals don’t hire them, even though no medical specialty can function without them – from diabetes to renal dialysis. In a hospital with 1,200 beds, there isn’t a single dietitian.”

Similarly, medical recovery is a neglected area: “Our colleagues in orthopedics have nowhere to send patients for recovery in the hospital. The needs are enormous, and the allocation of funds is exactly the opposite of the real needs.”

Criticism of Government Policy in Education and Health

“There’s talk of merging small universities with large ones. This is exactly the opposite of logical. Instead of developing where there is need, resources are concentrated in large centers. It’s a policy against educational common sense.”

Covașă offered the American model as an example: “Famous U.S. universities developed in villages, in the so-called Grant Lands, where the state provided land. We’re doing the exact opposite.”

A Call for Collaboration and Public-Private Partnership

“The partnership between universities, educational institutions, and the private sector is very important. We are not just lacking people, we are also lacking competencies. Candidates come with tanks of diplomas, but don’t actually know what to do. We must train human resources in collaboration with the private sector.”

Covașă also mentioned the model of top universities: “The best universities – Harvard, for instance – are private institutions built on partnerships with the private sector. We don’t want billions, we want to start with small, but clear steps for the community.”

Conclusion – Local Medical Education, the Foundation for the Future of Healthcare in Moldova

Dr. Mihai Covașă’s intervention shed light on a fundamental truth: sustainable development of the medical system in the Moldova Region cannot take place without a coherent strategy for training, retaining, and supporting future health professionals. The USV Faculty of Medicine, although young, has already emerged as an active and responsible player, community-oriented, with a modern vision of medical education. Partnerships with regional hospitals, the emphasis on practical training, the creation of an empathetic and approachable human framework, as well as involvement in the real lives of patients and communities, outline a profoundly humanist and effective approach.

In a regional context where the shortage of medical personnel is a major challenge, the solutions proposed by Dr. Covașă — support for local training, integration of young professionals into the regional medical network, and utilization of existing resources through strategic partnerships — represent not only directions for action, but imperatives for the future of healthcare in Moldova. Where others see shortcomings, USV and the team from the Faculty of Medicine see opportunities, investing not only in infrastructure and curriculum, but above all in people.

Thus, the message conveyed at the Regional Economic Forum Moldova is one of responsibility, hope, and commitment: that through real cooperation between academia, hospitals, and authorities, the Moldova Region can become a model of best practices in training and retaining healthcare specialists.