Scurt istoric

The Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine, and Manual Therapy is an academic subdivision of the "Nicolae Testemițanu" State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, founded in 2015 by Rector's Order No. 216-A of 27.05.2015.

The department organizes and conducts university-level training for fifth-year students of the Faculties of Medicine, Preventive Medicine, and Dentistry, as well as third-year students of the Faculty of General Medical Assistance. Additionally, it provides professional training for specialist physicians in medical rehabilitation through postgraduate residency studies. The department also offers continuing medical education courses for physiotherapists and specialist doctors in rehabilitation, physical medicine, and manual therapy. The department's staff includes a university professor with a habilitation degree in medical sciences (head of the department), two associate professors (PhD in medical sciences), one associate professor (PhD in pedagogical sciences), two university assistants (PhD in medical sciences), one university assistant (PhD in pedagogical sciences), four university assistants, and a senior laboratory technician.

Postgraduate training and continuing medical education in physiotherapy and manual therapy were initiated in 1992 by Associate Professor Agafia Moraru at the Department of Reflexotherapy and Medical Recovery, led by Professor Victor Lacusta. As a discipline, medical rehabilitation was introduced at "Nicolae Testemițanu" State University of Medicine and Pharmacy in 1998 within the Department of Physiology and Medical Rehabilitation, headed by Professor Aurel Saulea. Postgraduate training and continuing medical education in rehabilitation continued in 2008 at the Medical Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine, and Manual Therapy Course, founded by Professor Agafia Moraru. In 2015, this course was granted department status.

Also in 2015, Professor Oleg Pascal was appointed head of the department, continuing the development of the discipline through multiple international collaborations. Successful activities were carried out within the Moldovan-Estonian project "Moldovan-Estonian Cooperation in Sports Medicine for Implementing European Standards in Medical Education" (2013-2015). In 2016-2017, through projects funded by the Moldova-Leipzig Institute, workshops and training sessions with experts in the field were organized. Between 2017 and 2021, a collaboration project with the Swiss Basel Agency for Medical Cooperation was implemented.
The department actively participates in strengthening bilateral cooperation between "Nicolae Testemițanu" State University of Medicine and Pharmacy and medical education institutions in the People's Republic of China within academic mobility projects. In 2018-2019, successful internships were organized for department collaborators and resident physicians.

As part of academic collaboration with the "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, the first two-volume textbook – "Physical Means Used in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation" – was published, intended for students, resident physicians, and specialists in the field.

The department's university clinical bases are located within the IMSP Institute of Neurology and Neurosurgery and the IMSP Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Moldova. On June 5, 2017, the University Center for Medical Rehabilitation was inaugurated, dedicated to the "Nicolae Testemițanu" anniversary year. The center was founded in full compliance with the Development Program for Medical and Pharmaceutical Education in the Republic of Moldova for 2011-2020, with financial support from the European Union, and also serves as a university clinical base for the department.

The department's scientific research directions focus on the rehabilitation of post-stroke patients and individuals with osteoarticular system pathology.