Continued Collaboration: Students from Japan Arrive for a One-Month Visit
The morning of 30 March was anything but ordinary for eighteen students from the International University of Health and Welfare (IUHW), Japan, as they arrived for a one-month visit to the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU), marking the fourth consecutive year of the academic student exchange initiative between the two universities.
Prof. Dr Ingrida Janulevičienė, Dean of the International Relations and Study Centre, expressed her appreciation of the collaboration and the lasting diplomatic ties that have facilitated the students’ visit.
“We sincerely welcome you and wish you a pleasant and productive stay. I will do my utmost to ensure that your traineeship is organised as smoothly and beneficially for you as possible,” – she stated.
Prof. Dr Andrius Macas, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, encouraged the visiting students to reflect carefully on their aspirations, goals, and opportunities.
“It is very important that you make the most of this opportunity. In five years, some of you may be practising doctors, and in seven – great specialists. Some will become researchers. It is therefore important for us to establish connections already at this stage,” said the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine following the students’ introductions of their academic interests in medicine.
During the official welcome session at LSMU Hospital Kauno Klinikos, the Dean of the International Relations and Study Centre presented the University, the LSMU Hospital Kauno Klinikos, and the LSMU Kaunas Hospital to the visiting students, who will temporarily become members of the University community. Close cooperation with Japan, including student exchanges and joint research initiatives, was also highlighted during the presentation.
During their month-long stay in Kaunas, each student of the IUHW delegation will follow an individualised study plan tailored to their field of interest. In addition to attending lectures alongside LSMU students, the visiting students will be accommodated in University residence halls and will participate in a range of activities such as visits to the Museum of the History of Lithuanian Medicine and Pharmacy and the LSMU Museum of Anatomy as well as excursions to the ethnographic Open-Air Museum of Lithuania in Rumšiškės, and the UNESCO World Heritage site, the Curonian Spit.