Inauguration ceremony of the academic year 2022/2023

11.10.2022

Nearly 1,400 first-year students have begun their studies at the Medical University of Gdańsk. The Senate’s ceremonial session inaugurating the 2022/2023 academic year was held on October 10 in the hybrid formula with the participation of, among others, Deputy Marshal Bogdan Borusewicz, Minister of Health Adam Niedzielski Ph.D., Deputy Minister of Health Piotr Bromber, Social Advisor to President Andrzej Duda Piotr Karczewski, as well as Member of Parliament of the Republic of Poland Marek Rutka, Radosław Sierpiński, Ph.D., plenipotentiary of the Prime Minister for the development of the biotechnology sector and Poland’s independence in the field of blood products, President of the Medical Research Agency. The ceremony was also honored with the presence of Krzysztof Saczka, a Chief Sanitary Inspector with his deputy Maciej Merkisz, Pomeranian Voivode Dariusz Drelich, Deputy Mayor of Gdańsk Piotr Kryszewski and Monika Kasprzyk, Director of Pomerania Voivodeship Branch of the National Health Fund.

The ceremony began with the rector’s speech, in which Prof. Marcin Gruchała placed great emphasis on issues related to academic didactics, discussing the opportunities in this area, including the funding received from the Ministry of Education and Science for the implementation of the University’s Didactic Excellence project.

– Modern teaching that stimulates development is one of the main goals of the current term of office. My ambition is for us to become not only an excellent research university but also an excellent university in terms of teaching. New opportunities in this regard are created by the programme called Didactic Excellence of Universities project which is subsidized by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and includes the creation of a new unit providing comprehensive support to academic teachers. I am convinced that the Didactic Support Centre will bring you multiple benefits, offering several new possibilities to increase the quality of teaching said – Prof. Gruchała.

As the Rector pointed out, the Medical University of Gdańsk is one of the best medical universities in Poland, with increasingly intensive interdisciplinary research and a significant share of international cooperation, which successively rises in national and international rankings.

– This is objective confirmation that the MUG is not only a university that guarantees education at the highest level but also an important research centre with internationally recognized scientific activity – added Rector Gruchała.

The Rector also referred to the effectively developed cooperation with the largest local academic centers, in particular with the Gdańsk University of Technology and the University of Gdańsk, with which the MUG co-founded the Fahrenheit Union of Universities in Gdańsk.

– The Member Universities of Fahrenheit Universities share not only the same goal but also values such as freedom, solidarity, tolerance, social equality, and dignity of the individual. I am deeply convinced that by having such a solid foundation we can build something lasting, both as the universities in the Fahrenheit Universities.

Speaking of successful inter-university cooperation and partnership for the common interest, Rector also mentioned the Conference of Rectors of Academic Medical Universities, thanking its members for their activity, commitment, as well as support has shown, and inspiring discussions.

– Respecting collective decision-making, we have successfully managed to initiate and carry out several vital changes, for instance, in the area of teaching standards by adapting them to contemporary demands – emphasized Prof. Gruchała. – Thanks to redefining them, our graduates will be better prepared for the future workplace, equipped not only with academic knowledge and practical skills but also with soft skills, which include, among others, effective communication, teamwork, problem-solving, conducting the mediation, and stress management; these are part of the daily work in healthcare facilities.

Rector of the MUG also thanked representatives of the Ministry of Health, especially Health Minister Adam Niedzielski, who was present at the inauguration, and his accompanying deputy ministers Piotr Bromber and Marcin Martyniak, for being open to discussion and building a space for dialogue. In his speech, the Rector also summarized the record results of this year’s enrollment at the MUG, for which more than 14,200 candidates applied.

– What is particularly noteworthy is the unusually high interest in studies with a practical profile – more than 30 percent of all applications were for majors conducted at the Faculty of Health Sciences. For the first time on the podium of the most popular faculties was physiotherapy, taking second place, after the medical and dental faculties, with more than eleven people per place – stressed Rector Gruchała.

The number of Olympians who began their studies at the University also turned out to be a record.

– Today, the best begin their studies at the MUG, including as many as thirty-one winners of national and international Olympiads and subject competitions. I wish all those newly admitted to study at the Medical University of Gdańsk satisfaction with their studies, pleasure in discovering the charms of student life, and inspiration for personal development – Prof. Marcin Gruchała noted.

At the beginning of his speech, Health Minister Adam Niedzielski, Ph.D. referred to the current situation in Ukraine, emphasizing that both the Medical University of Gdańsk and the University Clinical Centre in Gdańsk have played and continue to play a significant role in helping patients, including oncology patients, engaging in translocating patients not only in Poland but also throughout Europe.

– Looking at the challenges we face, this difficult environment in which we have to function shortly, I hope that it is the academic community, universities, especially medical universities, that will give the impetus to find the right attitude towards all these crises – said the Health Minister.

As Adam Niedzielski, Ph.D. pointed out, the experience of the crisis is a challenge that medical universities are realistically facing.

– This year will be difficult, but certainly – and this is also a declaration made on behalf of the entire government, Prime Minister Morawiecki – no one will be left alone in this crisis. We will prepare such solutions and tools that will try to help in this situation. For example, preferential electricity tariffs, which we are working on, but also in the context of financing both on the side of the Ministry of Education and on the side of the Ministry of Health – explained Health Minister Adam Niedzielski. – We already have packages of instruments prepared and partially implemented, which are also for teaching hospitals to help us survive this crisis and help us build that sense of normalcy that should be a mainstay for achieving ambitious goals.

The letter to the MUG academic community was also addressed by Polish President Andrzej Duda, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, and Minister of Science and Education Przemysław Czarnek.

Minister of Health Awards

During the inauguration, the Minister of Health’s awards for 2022 were received from Adam Niedzielski by a team from the Department of Nephrology, Transplantology and Internal Diseases of the MUG, consisting of Prof. Maria Alicja Dębska-Ślizień, Head of the unit, Prof. Leszek Tylicki and Dr. Habil. Bogdan Biedunkiewicz. The scientists were recognized for their significant achievements in the field of scientific activity, with particular emphasis on a series of clinical studies on the epidemiology, symptomatology, and course of COVID-19 disease in patients with chronic kidney disease.

Prof. Roman Kaliszan Award and Medal

The Medical University of Gdańsk, the Scientific Foundation of Polpharma, and the Gdańsk Scientific Society have established 2020. Prize and Medal named after Roman Kaliszan, a world-class scientist, and specialist in pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacology, and analytical chemistry, the University’s rector from 2005 to 2008. The award is given annually to scholars holding at least a doctoral degree for outstanding scientific achievement in biomedical or biopharmaceutical sciences. Its winner this year was Professor Bogusław Buszewski, Head of the Department of Environmental Chemistry and Bioanalytics at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, for his achievement entitled Chromatographic and spectral study using quantitative retention-structure relationship and biological activity of preparations as drug candidates. The award was presented by the director of the Polpharma Scientific Foundation, Daniela Piotrowska, the president of the Gdansk Scientific Society, Prof. Jerzy Blazejowski, as well as the rector, Prof. Marcin Gruchała, and the vice-rector for science, Prof. Michał Markuszewski. A gift from the municipal authorities of Gdańsk on behalf of Mayor Aleksandra Dulkiewicz was presented by Vice Mayor Piotr Kraszewski.

Medal of Merit

Andrzej Karnabal, chairman of the Social Council of the University Centre for Maritime and Tropical Medicine, and managing director of the China-Poland Shipbuilding Society was awarded the Medal of Merit of the MUG for his outstanding contributions to the community of the Medical University of Gdansk, particularly the University Centre for Maritime and Tropical Medicine in Gdynia. As emphasized by Rector Gruchala, Mr. Karnabal’s excellent managerial and analytical skills ensure the effective operation of the UCMMiT Social Council, as well as have a positive impact on the functioning and development of the unit.

Primus Inter Pares

Other awards presented at the ceremony were the Primus Inter Pares awards, which were given to the best students of each Department. This year’s award winners were: Malgorzata Styczewska, M.D. a graduate of the medical faculty, Marta Bieńkowska, M.Sc., a graduate of medical analytics, and Julita Ronkowska, M.Sc., a graduate of second-degree nursing.

Immatriculation of students and doctoral students

Nearly 1,400 first-year students joined the academic community of the MUG, who was solemnly welcomed by Dr. Habil. Tomasz Smiatacz, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs. The deans of the various faculties presented the students with congratulatory letters, while the Rector, Prof. Marcin Gruchała, belted them and accepted them as students of our University. The oath of doctoral students was conducted similarly, with Prof. Jacek Witkowski, Director of the First Doctoral School of the MUG, taking part. Student representative Małgorzata Styczewska, M.D. and chairwoman of the Doctoral Student Government Gabriela Harasim, M.Sc. also spoke, addressing a few words to their younger colleagues.

Inaugural lecture

This year’s inaugural lecture entitled Mission and potential of medical universities in creating modern health policy – the PolSenior2 project was delivered by Prof. Tomasz Zdrojewski, Head of the Division of Preventive Medicine & Education of the MUG, winner of the 2021 Sopot Muse Prize in Science, member of the Presidium of the Public Health Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences and head of the research team of the PolSenior 2 project. This is the largest nationwide study of the health status of older Poles, involving a group of prominent Polish experts in geriatrics and gerontology. The results of their several years of work have recently been published in a powerful monograph, which is a unique compendium of knowledge on the health and social situation of Polish seniors.

Photo: Paweł Sudara/MUG