‘The School only exists because you exist. I’m very proud to be working with all of you,’ said the director of the NOVA National School of Public Health (NOVA NSPH), Sónia Dias. ‘Enjoy these transformative years, which will mark a change in your professional career,’ emphasised the deputy director, Rui Santana. This is how the new NOVA NSPH students were welcomed at an informal Welcome Day, which introduced the newcomers to the campus and the main opportunities they will find at NOVA NSPH, an event organised by the NOVA NSPH Student Association and with the participation of the Alumni Association.
The first event took place in the emblematic Coriolano Ferreira auditorium, where the director of NOVA NSPH gave a brief speech in which she shared the school’s success story, with over five decades of training leaders and health professionals in a wide range of areas. Sónia Dias also took the opportunity to encourage the new students to also take steps in research, with NOVA NSPH involved in dozens of highly successful European projects and consortia.
‘We provide teaching that is close to real problems and the research we do responds to these challenges and is also incorporated into learning. Take advantage of the best that NOVA NSPH has to offer,’ the director added, pointing out that many of the current and former students ‘are part of the health system’ and that the teachers and researchers also have a lot of experience and direct links to health services, governance, political structures, etc., so this is a unique moment to nurture a network of knowledge.
The deputy director shared some information about NOVA NSPH’s internationalisation and the increasing number of courses and training courses on offer in English, also pointing out the excellence of the many visiting professors that the students will come across during their studies. ‘We constantly seek innovation in the teaching methods we use, integrating new technologies such as artificial intelligence and bringing international simulators and case study methodologies to our classes, among many other examples,’ said Rui Santana.
The session, which took place on 1 October, ended with a get-together in the ENSP NOVA gardens, attended by teachers, researchers, staff and new students, marking the start of a year of great learning.