The University Hospital of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University in Lviv has begun establishing an innovative international medical cluster. The project is being implemented as part of a government pilot scheme that for the second year running has been introducing modern approaches to medical education in Ukraine.
The initiative aims to give students, junior doctors and young physicians the opportunity to master leading global practices without having to go abroad. To this end, the state has introduced a simplified procedure for the official employment of foreign medical professionals, allowing leading specialists to work in Ukrainian clinics without lengthy diploma recognition procedures.
One of the first outcomes of this programme has been the official joining of the University Hospital team by renowned European interventional cardiologist Krzysztof Pujdak. He will be working with patients while simultaneously training Ukrainian doctors and future medical professionals at the hospital.
Rector of Danylo Halytsky LNMU Orest Chemerys stresses that this format enables Ukrainian learners to gain access to best practice without interrupting their studies or leaving the country. At the same time, patients receive highly specialised care from leading global experts within the walls of the Lviv clinic.
Krzysztof Pujdak himself said that he has been coming to Ukraine since 2017, previously bringing consumables and donating equipment. He is now officially working at the University Hospital, emphasising that his motivation is not financial gain but the desire to help Ukrainian patients and support the ambitious doctors and nurses he works with.
Head of the Heart and Vascular Clinic at the LNMU University Hospital Dmytro Besh notes that Dr Pujdak is one of Europe's leading interventional cardiologists. He performs a wide range of procedures, including complex interventions for chronic occlusions, uses the latest imaging techniques and methods for functional assessment of blood flow, and also has expertise in structural interventions. According to Besh, the involvement of such a specialist makes it possible not only to develop areas of care already established in Ukraine, but also to disseminate knowledge among a wide circle of doctors, junior doctors and students.
The first patient to undergo surgery with the participation of Krzysztof Pujdak was 67-year-old Viktor Sokolov from Drohobych in the Lviv region. In 2022 he had two stents fitted, but this summer he suffered a massive heart attack when one of the stents became completely blocked. Doctors urgently restored blood flow in the vessel, effectively saving his life, and later there was a need for an additional intervention, which was carried out during the visit of the foreign cardiologist.
“It's always nice to be the first. And I suppose I was lucky that the professor came just when I needed this operation” — Viktor Sokolov
The LNMU University Hospital sees the employment of foreign specialists within the experimental project as the start of a new stage in the institution's development. The clinic is strengthening its role as one of the leading medical and educational centres in Western Ukraine, combining patient care with the training of a new generation of doctors based on international experience.