Certificates of participation in the curriculum on physiotherapy and occupational therapy in early intervention at the Uzhhorod National University were received by over fifty students - both UzhNU students and practitioners from Zakarpattia, Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipropetrovsk and other oblasts of Ukraine.

The course was presented by a physiotherapist and Bobath therapist from Lucerne Brigitta Bertold and an early intervention specialist, a special educator for preschool children, and an employee of the Early Intervention Service of the canton of Lucerne Sylvia Zimmermann. For the development of educational space for future specialists, the dean of the Faculty of Health and Physical Education of the UzhNU Ivan Myroniuk presented to Swiss colleagues letters of appreciation and commemorative souvenirs. Also, members of the Medical Aid Committee of Zakarpattia were awarded as they were co-initiators of an important educational project in the region.

“It was a joint education. The audience was overwhelmingly positive and eager to continue our work. Awareness of the significance of acquiring new knowledge, developing professional skills is an important indicator in the work of a physiotherapist and occupational therapist in early intervention,” Silvia Zimmermann said.

The students, some of whom have overcome the distance longer than the Swiss trainers in Uzhhorod did, expressed their gratitude for the opportunity to join the educational process. This indicates both the lack of relevant projects in the country and the interest of specialists to improve their skills, develop a socially and humanely important industry. Together with the theoretical knowledge, the trainees received practical skills in working with children with disabilities and passed the appropriate exams. For some of them it was their first experience, while the others have deepened their knowledge already tested in the work of early intervention specialists.

The training program from the Swiss trainers is the first block of theoretical and practical training of specialists in Zakarpattia. Next year in April partners from Switzerland will present the next educational block, which will complement and expand the approved educational programs of the Uzhhorod National University.

We would like to remind you that the trilateral agreement on creating new educational conditions for future specialists working with people with disabilities was signed on September 23, 2019, by the UzhNU rector Volodymyr Smolanka, the president of the Association Parasolka (Switzerland) Andreas Schmidt and the director of the Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattia Natalia Kabatsiy.