Launching of KeTLOD Project Knowledge Transfer in Organ Donation from Europe to China
The University of Barcelona (UB) and the DTI Foundation, located at the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), are the main coordinators of the European project KeTLOD (Knowledge Transfer and Leadership in Organ Donation from Europe to China), an initiative of the European Union that aim to design the first postgraduate program in organ donation in China and to implement it in seven universities all over the country.
Last week twenty health care professionals from different regions of the the Asian Republic participated in Barcelona in the first phase of the project, Train the Trainers, to learn how to teach organ donation at higher education level in terms of a postgraduate program. Health experts from Spain, a worldwide reference in the field, and as well as from Italy and France were engaged in dynamics workshops with the Chinese professionals for five days.
In continuity, in what will be the second phase of the project , these twenty specialists will train 140 health professionals in seven prestigious universities in China, strategically chosen for their academic importance, training capacity and geographical coverage. Knowledge and experience in clinical terms, management and dissemination strategies in organ donation will be offered to the trainees for an academic year. Once completing the academic year a Postgraduate Diploma in Organ Donation in accordance with the guidelines of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) will be granted.
Following the face-to-face training, on Friday 26th at the Barcelona Science Park in an official ceremony the 20 Chinese participants received their certification as KeTLOD experts. At this meeting participated as well, key stakeholders of the KeTLOD consortium and distinguished representatives of the University Of Barcelona, the Catalan Transplant Organization (OCATT) and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China.
The opening of the meeting featured the attendance of Dr. Martí Manyalich, associate professor of the Faculty of Medicine of the UB, president of the DTI Foundation and transplant adviser of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona; Tang Lingyun, General Consul of China in Barcelona; Chloë Ballestè, associate professor of the Department of Surgery and Surgical Specialties of the UB and director of Development and International Cooperation of the DTI Foundation; Aurora Navarro, director of the Blood and Tissue Bank of Catalonia, responsible for Bio-vigilance of the OCATT and Communications coordinator of the Notifylibrary project of the World Health Organization (WHO); and Anna Serra, Director of Marketing and Communication at PCB.
According to Dr. Manyalich: “Educating health professionals is a key point of quality and success in donation and transplantion practices. In Spain, the world leader in this field with a record 43.4 donors per million population (pmp), the training programs have started since 1991. From the other hand, China, that in 2016 reached a number of 4,080 donors (ranking as the second country in the world with the largest number of donors), can go much further by encouraging training initiatives for the Chinese health professionals such as the KeTLOD program. “
According to Gao Xinpu, director of the China Organ Donation Administrative Center: “China has a great challenge in ensuring the quality and success in organ donation. Participating in such an interactive and professional project in which 20 leading practitioners of donation programs in China have been trained to be the future voices and transmit knowledge and experiences to their colleagues, ensures that our country will achieve very satisfactory results in this area. The DTI Foundation, with its TPM program, has contributed a lot in the training of our professionals. We have achieved a pmp of 2.94 in the last year and we hope to close 2017 even better. We are also striving for the KeTLOD program to be implemented in more universities in the future.”
A network for the exchange of knowledge
KeTLOD is a project cofounded by the European Commission as part of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building in Higher Education), the objective of which is to design and implement the first postgraduate program in organ donation in China, customized to the of healthcare professionals and adapted to the characteristics of the High Education system of the country.
Endowed with a budget of 665,441 Euros and a duration of 2 years, the project will be developed by the University of Barcelona and the DTI Foundation, based at PCB, along with two other European universities–the University of Bologne (Italy) and the University of Nice (France)–, as well as Dinamia (Spain) and Shenzhen XinGeRuiLa Culture Communication (China) and seven other Chinese universities: Shanghai Jiaotong University (SJTU)-Renji Hospital, Capital Medical University (CCMU), Kunming University (KU), Wuhan University (WHU), Second Military Medical University Shanghai (SMMU), Nanchang University (UN) and Guangxi University of Chinese Medicine (GUCM)-Transplant Institute of Medicine Nanning.
KeTLOD is structured on the basis of two differentiated training programs. The first is aimed at about twenty Chinese health professionals active in the field of organ donation and the second one is aimed at 140 students from seven Chinese universities. The KeTLOD curriculum includes an on-site part with seminars organized by each university, an online program jointly led by the Chinese and European team, and clinical practices and participation in research work.
In addition, in the framework of the project, the partners commit to build a knowledge network that will strengthen the professional skills of Chinese health professionals; improve detection and identification of potential donors and, through the dissemination of knowledge and information, will foster a positive attitude of the society toward donation.
