Advancing Medical Knowledge Through Student Exchange: Faculty of Medicine, UNHAS and LUMC Partnership

To realize its vision of becoming a World Class University, the Faculty of Medicine (FK) Hasanuddin University (UNHAS), Makassar, Indonesia, has been collaborating with Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC), Netherlands, through a student exchange program since 2016. Under this program, FK-Unhas sends outbound students to Leiden for three months and receives inbound students from Leiden University. This initiative was formalized in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2014, which was renewed in 2019 under the title of the Reciprocal Student Exchange Program.

For FK-UNHAS students going to Leiden, they participate in one of 16 topics within the Half Minor course, which runs for 10 weeks (equivalent to 10 European Credits or SKS). For Leiden students, those enrolled in the Half Minor on “Infection, Health, and Disease” spend 4 out of the 10 weeks studying at the Faculty of Medicine, Hasanuddin University, Indonesia. Some Leiden students also participate in a similar program at the University of Indonesia.

This year marks the sixth year of the program, which is coordinated annually by Prof. Dr. Sitti Wahyuni, Ph.D., SpParK. During their four weeks at Hasanuddin University (October 1-31, 2024), students receive training and knowledge in the fields of infection and immunology through various stages of research, including sample/data collection, immunological sample analysis, data interpretation, journal reading, manuscript writing, and presentation of results.