Flemish universities to train medical students for war injuries
From next academic year, medical students in Flanders will receive training on treating war-related injuries, according to VRT NWS. The move follows calls from the Defence and Health ministries to prepare healthcare workers for potential conflicts.
An expert panel will integrate military medical training into curricula, potentially through elective courses or an additional master’s programme. Other healthcare disciplines, such as physiotherapy and nursing, may also incorporate resilience training.
“We hope it never comes to this, but we cannot bury our heads in the sand,” said Piet Hoebeke, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Ghent University.
”While we already have highly skilled doctors, operating in a conflict zone requires additional expertise”
“War presents unique medical challenges in trauma care, emergency medicine and surgery. While we already have highly skilled doctors, operating in a conflict zone requires additional expertise,” said Filip Lardon, dean of Medicine at the University of Antwerp.
Training will cover mass casualty triage, evacuation procedures and gunshot wound treatment - areas where expertise from Ukraine’s battlefield experience could be valuable as drone strike injuries, for instance, are vastly different from the trauma patterns of World War II.
The initiative also considers modern threats, including biological, chemical, and bacteriological warfare.
#FlandersNewsService | Illustration © BELGA PHOTO DIRK WAEM
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