Minister of Health of Romania visited ”Nicolae Testemitanu” University

The Minister of Health of Romania, Alexandru Florin Rogobete, visited Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy on January 16, 2026, accompanied by the Ambassador of Romania to the Republic of Moldova, Cristian-Leon Turcan, and the Minister of Health of the Republic of Moldova, Emil Ceban. This is the first official visit of the Romanian Minister to the University, which aimed to document the activity of the institution, as well as to identify opportunities for developing collaboration at the institutional and interstate levels in the field of health, medical education, scientific research and medical assistance.

The delegation had a meeting with the administrative team of the University led by First Vice-Rector Olga Cernetchi, Vice-Rector for Teaching and Academic Management. The First Vice-Rector reported on the institutional capacities and study programs of the University, the Strategic Plan for Institutional Development and academic reforms, and on challenges and opportunities in the development of higher education in the Republic of Moldova.

During the dialogue, partnerships with higher education institutions in Romania, especially with medical universities, were highlighted. At the same time, the parties discussed the prospects for strengthening bilateral cooperation in order to train specialists for health systems, ensure academic mobility of students and teaching staff, exchange of specialists and transfer of good practices in obtaining funding for research and innovation projects.

"I want us to continue the collaboration in terms of human resources and the exchange of experience between the two university systems, because they have proven over time that they can bring bilateral benefits to both states and, of course, that we can discuss concrete investments using European funds for bilateral projects intended for member states and states that are not yet members of the European Union," said Minister Rogobete.

In this context, Minister Ceban highlighted the major impact of partnerships with Romanian institutions for training specialists in the field and developing the national health system. The official emphasized that the collaboration projects between Nicolae Testemitanu University and Romanian medical universities in the educational, scientific, curative and cultural fields were initiated three decades ago. Bilateral cooperation is materialized through joint professional training and research projects, working visits, participation in scientific conferences and events, development of joint academic programs, publication of scientific articles in international journals with an impact factor, as well as through the initiation and implementation of joint research and institutional development projects.

Afterwards, the two health officials visited the Academic Evaluation Center, where the winter session is in full swing, the University Sociocultural Complex, and the Health Sciences Library.

To date, Nicolae Testemitanu University has concluded and signed 20 collaboration agreements with higher medical education institutions and hospital centers in Romania. The partnerships are aimed at strengthening cooperation relations in the field of training doctors and pharmacists, scientific research, medical care, as well as organizational and administrative management. Another direction of collaboration focuses on identifying funding sources and opportunities for the development and implementation of research projects, academic mobility and institutional consolidation.

Thanks to the Cooperation and Assistance Program between the Ministry of National Education of Romania and the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova, over the last ten years, the University has benefited from 334 scholarships offered to teaching staff for specialization in relevant universities of Romania. During the period 2023-2025, 144 teaching staff members benefited from internships.

Under the ERASMUS, CEPUS, AUF mobility programs, developed in the last eight years, Nicolae Testemitanu University has benefited from over 100 outgoing mobilities and about 60 incoming mobilities in Romanian medical universities. Over the course of ten years, about 800 students have completed short-term internships within the Interfarma, Interdentis and Transmed programs, also participating in summer schools organized by professional societies from across the Prut River. Annually, 2-3 doctoral and postdoctoral students benefit from research scholarships (for a period of three months) in Romanian higher education establishments, under the "Eugen Ionescu" scientific research mobility program, funded by the Government of Romania and managed by the University Agency of Francophonie.

Under the partnership between Grigore T. Popa Iasi University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Carol Davila Bucharest University of Medicine and Pharmacy, George Emil Palade University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Targu Mures and Nicolae Testemitanu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, the Clinical Epidemiology Unit was established. Due to this initiative, 18 teaching staff members were trained in clinical research methodology, with the support of the International Francophone Clinical Epidemiology Network. 

Among the cross-border projects developed jointly, we would like to mention the OBDIA-Net project – “Integrated cross-border network for advanced health services in the field of obesity, diabetes and other metabolic disorders”, funded by the Romania-Republic of Moldova Joint Operational Programme 2014-2020, with an implementation period of 3 years and a total budget of EUR 326,400. This project aimed to develop a network of excellence to improve diagnostic services, treatment and prevention of metabolic diseases.

In 2025, the collaboration between Nicolae Testemitanu University and Grigore T. Popa University from Iasi was consolidated through a new cross-border project CROSS-border EDUcational Network for Orofacial pain and Craniomandibular disorders (CROSS-EduNOC), which aims to create an educational and research network for the multidisciplinary approach to orofacial pain and craniomandibular disorders. 

An essential role in the development of Moldovan-Romanian cooperation is played by the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova (DRRM) within the Government of Romania, which endowed the Department of Pathology with state-of-the-art equipment, creating the Digital Pathology Laboratory and two virtual medicine rooms through the "Digitalization of Education" project. At the same time, the project "Consolidation of medical education in urology and surgical nephrology through simulation" was implemented, by integrating modern simulation technologies into the training of specialists.

During 2024-2027, ”Nicolae Testemitanu” University implemented 20 bilateral research projects with Romania, financed by the Executive Unit for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding of Romania in collaboration with the National Agency for Research and Development of the Republic of Moldova under the Complex Projects Program with the Republic of Moldova. 

The publishing houses of the Romanian medical universities have constantly supported the Health Sciences Library of Nicolae Testemitanu University through valuable donations of specialized publications, facilitating access to academic resources. Between 1991 and August 2025, the universities from Romania donated over 19 thousand publications to the Health Sciences Library, of which 14,513 books, textbooks and practical guides, while the University offered 800 book titles to specialized universities in Romania.

On April 11, 2023, Nicolae Testemitanu University obtained the status of G6-UMF Alliance honorary member, and with this achievement, the collaboration between medical universities from Romania and the Republic of Moldova experienced new dimensions in the process of connecting higher medical education to European standards.

In the last three years, Nicolae Testemitanu University has conferred the Doctor Honoris Causa honorary title on 13 notable personalities from Romania, as a sign of high appreciation and gratitude for their remarkable contribution to promoting international cooperation between universities and strengthening bilateral partnerships, encouraging the transfer of knowledge and the exchange of good practices, academic mobilities and the alignment of educational systems with European standards of quality and performance.