Armenian Association of Telemedicine is participating in an important multinational educational initiative in the field of medical technologies. The project titled “Biomedical Engineering Education Tempus Initiative in Eastern Neighboring Area” (BME-ENA) funded by the European Commission through its long-lasting higher education reform program (TEMPUS IV), involves besides AATM, 16 universities from 7 EU countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, and Slovenia), and 4 countries of the so-called Eastern Neighboring Area (ENA) – Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The project, which is set to run for 3 years (December 2013 through November 2016) and is initiated and coordinated by the University of Patras in Greece, aims to develop and establish at the participating universities in Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine a joint MSc program in Biomedical Engineering, including Healthcare Information and Communication Technologies, eHealth and telemedicine. Participating universities from Armenia are two leading higher education institutions in biomedical and technical fields – the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University (RAU) and the State Engineering University of Armenia (SEUA, “The Polytechnic”). AATM (which is the only non-governmental professional organization in the consortium) is going to play an important role in the successful project implementation in Armenia, providing its expertise in developing and implementing the program parts related to the Healthcare Information and Communication Technologies (including telemedicine and eHealth), coordinating the project at the country level, and ensuring interaction, communication and collaboration between the interested stakeholders (academia, healthcare institutions, and regulatory authorities). It is expected that the first students will be enrolled in the newly established master’s program in September 2015, for a two-year 120 European credits extensive teaching program with significant input not only from local faculty, but also from leading experts in the field of biomedical technologies from many EU universities. The graduates of the program will receive internationally recognized diplomas opening broad employment perspectives not only in Armenia, but essentially in all European countries. However, the most significant output of the project should be development of highly skilled human resources for rapidly growing field of medical technologies, in the participating Eastern European countries. It will be especially relevant for Armenia, considering several upcoming telemedicine and eHealth programs.
More detailed information on the project activities will be available soon on the website of the project at http://bme-ena.net, as well as through AATM website and social media platforms.
