New head elected for University of Tartu Institute of Clinical Medicine

At the meeting on 30 June, the council of the University of Tartu Institute of Clinical Medicine elected Professor in Neurology Pille Taba as the head of the institute. Her term of office starts on 1 September.

Pille Taba, Professor in Neurology at the University of Tartu, considers it important as the head of one of the largest institutes in the Faculty of Medicine to advance teaching, clinical work and research, as well as to cooperate with Tartu University Hospital and all other medical institutions in Estonia. She says that clinical teaching and research activities in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Tartu are of unique importance because, being part of the only university in Estonia teaching medicine, the institute is responsible for the education of medical doctors and teaching clinical subjects to students of related specialities.

“The institute must ensure the sustainability of treatment activities in all Estonian medical institutions from major hospitals to small family medicine centres, and together with professional associations, bear the responsibility for the development of clinical specialisations. This requires good integration in the treating university hospital, Tartu University Hospital. And this in turn presupposes cooperation in the three important areas: teaching, clinical work and research,” said Professor Taba.

To ensure that the University of Tartu and Tartu University Hospital go hand in hand, Taba believes that ideally, the academic staff of the Institute of Clinical Medicne and the teaching doctors working at the hospital should overlap, because on the one hand, it is not possible to do clinical research without patients, and on the other hand, treatment requires an evidence-based, innovative approach. “In my opinion, the basis of development of the Institute of Clinical Medicine is cooperation with Tartu University Hospital and medical decision-making bodies, as well as with other institutes of the Faculty of Medicine, and other research and clinical institutions in Estonia, and with international consortia,” Taba underlined the importance of cooperation.

Research and teaching

Taba also regards high-quality research and the involvement of students in research as extremely important. “The expected output of high-level, integration-based research is degree studies and the presentation of research results in international scientific journals, as well as in Eesti Arst. Also, students should be encouraged to participate in research, and evidence-based research findings should be integrated into curricula.”

According to Taba, the premise for the development of teaching and studies and research is the continuous improvement of technological methods, including the development of e-learning methods and simulation techniques that support the acquisition of practical clinical skills. “The prerequisites for the development are, undoubtedly, the people, but also the financial resources. Although applying for grants can be stressful and labour-intensive, success in securing research funds is a precondition of sustainability,” Taba admitted.

Professor Pille Taba graduated from the University of Tartu in 1985. She is Head of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery at the University of Tartu, and as a neurologist, she is a dedicated researcher of Parkinson’s disease. Just as important for her, however, is clinical work, supporting patient associations, conducting professional training and teaching, including organising continuing education programmes both as the head of the continuing education centre of the University of Tartu Faculty of Medicine, as president of the L. Puusepp Society of Neurologists and Neurosurgeons, and member of the International Executive Committee of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorders Society. Pille Taba is the chair of the Neurology Commission of the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Group of Neurology at the European Medicines Agency.

Heads of institutes are elected at the university for a term of three years.