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Today, September 19, Aigars Kalvītis, Prime Minister of the Republic of Latvia, met Catherine Todd Bailey, Ambassador of the United States of America to Latvia, Prof. Jānis Vētra, Rector of the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU), and representatives of the Faculty of Nursing Science of the Rīga Stradiņš University.
During the meeting the representatives of the Faculty of Nursing Science informed on the visit to the United States, where they acquainted themselves with the process of training of nurses. The visit took place as a follow-up to the cooperation that started in late 2005 when upon the initiative of Ambassador Catherine Todd Bailey, medical experts from the US visited Latvia.
During the two week long visit RSU representatives in Louisville, Kentucky visited 14 medical and medical education institutions, acquainted themselves with the medical education system of and distance learning program for nurses, and considered possibilities to create a similar program in Latvia.
RSU Rector Jānis Vētra informed the Prime Minister that Latvia has long traditions of nurse education, however training of nurses as a separate program at the bachelor’s and master’s level currently is a relatively new challenge. The Rector said that creation of a distance learning program in nurse training can be seen as a methodologically new direction in medical education, which could be used by Latvian universities to offer distance learning opportunities in regions of Latvia.
Uldis Līkops, State Secretary of the Ministry of Health also was satisfied with the cooperation with the US. He informed the Prime Minister that there are similar problems in healthcare systems on both sides of the ocean, therefore there are extensive opportunities for cooperation.
Aigars Kalvītis thanked for the experts’ ideas and stressed the need for exchange of experience and increasing of skills of medical personnel, which would allow acquiring in Latvia medical education meeting US standards. The Prime Minister expressed the Government’s understanding of the situation in healthcare and work that needs to be done, and also praised the professionalism and education of Latvian medical personnel, which already now is highly valued on international level.
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