A new programme for medical students from Oldenburg and Groningen is designed to make it easier to study across borders and carry out joint research at both universities.
Finally getting to study, getting to know a new city and meeting new people: what can already be a challenge for students at a single university is sometimes twice as difficult when it involves two universities. This can also apply to medical students at the Universities of Oldenburg and Groningen, as the co-operation between the two campuses allows these budding doctors to spend parts of their studies at the university medical centres in both cities: in Oldenburg and atthe ‘Universitair Medisch Centrum Groningen’ (UMCG). To ensure that their studies and stay in what is, for them, a new city go smoothly, the ‘MedMates Buddy Programme’ has now been launched. Medical students in Oldenburg and Groningen act as mentors for students from the other city for a year, offering them advice and practical support. Afterwards, they are expected to support one another throughout their entire degree programme.
“Friends for life, colleagues in the future”
This is intended not only to help overcome potential language barriers more easily, but above all to help students find their way around their respective campuses, in both cities and within their different social environments. “We want medical students from Groningen and Oldenburg to get to know one another and exchange ideas, so that studying or conducting research abroad is made easier. However, these partnerships are also important in terms of joint programmes to support early-career researchers after they have completed their regular studies,” explains Dr Kirsten Gehlhar, Head of the Dean’s Office at the local School V - School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
Through the cross-border model degree programme, students from Oldenburg are given the opportunity to study not only at the University of Oldenburg but also at one of the Netherlands’ most prestigious universities, the University of Groningen. Conversely, University Medicine Oldenburg is an attractive prospect for students from Groningen. “The unique hospital landscape in Oldenburg, with its four partner hospitals, is of particular interest to Dutch students – as is the opportunity to work within the German healthcare system,” says Corinna Glasner, coordinator at the UMCG.
City breaks, kale and the Christmas market
The ‘Mates’ are divided into groups of four to five students from both universities so that they can get to know and support one another. To this end, there are online information sessions on collaboration in studies and research, as well as face-to-face events at both locations to help participants get to know one another and exchange ideas. As well as the university-organised meetings, participants in the buddy programme can also meet up on their own initiative at the weekend. Larger joint leisure activities are also being planned, such as a visit to a Christmas market, an Oldenburg kale tour or a trip to Groningen – a wide-ranging programme that has met with great interest. An initial kick-off event was held in early November with 30 participants from both cities.
Registration takes place via the MedMates portal. Here, those interested fill in a registration questionnaire so that the perfect partners can be found. This will help ensure an even better start to their studies with the help of the Buddy Programme.
(Petra Wilts)
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