Here’s a look at another great initiative advancing pediatric rehabilitation — a complementary effort to the ongoing work carried out by the War Trauma Rehabilitation in Ukraine Initiative. Together with Protez Hub, which leads the capacity-building efforts for prosthetists and orthotists, we’ve launched a faculty training project under the SU-CARE program.
SU-CARE is an international educational program for clinical practitioners and university faculty working in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and prosthetics and orthotics. Its goal is to upgrade the qualifications of educators and build a community of specialists who possess modern clinical skills, can effectively teach, mentor junior colleagues, and develop university programs in Ukraine in line with international standards.
The program is implemented by Jönköping University (Sweden), in partnership with the Patients of Ukraine Foundation and Protez Hub, with support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
Twenty educators and clinical mentors from 12 Ukrainian universities were selected to join the project:
- National University of Pharmacy
- I. Horbachevsky Ternopil National Medical University
- National University of Physical Education and Sport of Ukraine
- Khmelnytskyi National University
- Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University
- Dnipro State Medical University
- Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University
- A. S. Makarenko Sumy State Pedagogical University
- Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University
- Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University
- Ukrainian National University of Health Sciences
- Kharkiv National Medical University
All participants went through a competitive selection process. A condition of participation was the signing of a memorandum between the university and program organizers, confirming the institution’s commitment to implementing curriculum changes and supporting faculty members in updating their teaching.
SU-CARE provides a comprehensive platform for professional development, including:
- Collaborative learning with Swedish educators and professionals
- Development of specialized clinical and pedagogical skills
- Ongoing mentorship
- Internships in Swedish clinics and universities
- Participation in working groups for revising and updating Ukrainian academic programs
The program is structured around several key components:
- Kick-off meeting in Poland: fundamentals of quality prosthetics, team-building, an introduction to the mentorship model, and the Canvas learning platform
- Specialized online training, mentorship sessions, and clinical placements in Sweden
- Module on pedagogical methods and clinical mentoring, including hands-on training at Jönköping University
- Work on updating educational programs, developing teaching cases, and creating assessment tools
The first stage of implementation was an in-person meeting in Warsaw, bringing together participants from across Ukraine. They’ve already begun working on strengthening their teaching and mentoring skills — a step that will help make the training of future rehabilitation professionals more structured, clinically grounded, and responsive to the real needs of the system.
In a context where the need for rehabilitation services is growing rapidly — due to war-related injuries, complex trauma, and chronic conditions — preparing specialists of the appropriate level has become critically important. SU-CARE addresses this challenge by focusing on developing those who will go on to train others.
