On February 11, 2026, a scientific forum entitled: "Health Promotion, Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation: A Common Path of the Academic Community, General Medicine and Hospitals" was held in Rovinj, organized by the Special Hospital for Orthopedics and Rehabilitation "Martin Horvat" Rovinj-Rovigno, the Faculty of Health Studies of the University of Rijeka and the Faculty of Medicine of the Juraj Dobrila University in Pula.
The panel discussion brought together numerous healthcare professionals, teachers and students of health studies with the aim of strengthening cooperation between the academic community and clinical practice and encouraging interdisciplinary dialogue on contemporary healthcare challenges. The meeting was opened by the Director of the Special Hospital "Martin Horvat" Rovinj-Rovigno, Barbara Peruško, univ. mag. iur., emphasizing that lifelong education of employees is one of the key priorities of the Hospital and the foundation for ensuring quality and safe healthcare.
In their introductory speech, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Hari Jurdana and Kristijan Zulle, Master of Physiology, emphasized the importance of health promotion, disease prevention and rehabilitation as fundamental components of a sustainable healthcare system, emphasizing the need to permanently connect scientific knowledge with practical experiences from the everyday work of healthcare institutions.
The program of the forum included a series of professional and scientific presentations dedicated to rehabilitation, quality of healthcare, patient satisfaction, intergenerational values in nursing, and the role of critical thinking in biomedical sciences. Special emphasis was placed on the results of research conducted in clinical practice and their application in improving health outcomes and the organization of care.
Added value to the conference was provided by nursing masters Meghan Todorić, Jasmina Starčević and Andrea Brezak, employed at the "Martin Horvat" Special Hospital in Rovinj-Rovigno, who presented the results of their graduate research, confirming the important role of professional and scientific work of healthcare professionals in everyday clinical practice.
The presentations in the field of rehabilitation highlighted the importance of an individualized approach to patients, multidisciplinary teamwork, and long-term monitoring of rehabilitation outcomes with the aim of improving the quality of life of patients. It was also emphasized that systematic monitoring of rehabilitation outcomes is a key tool for improving clinical practice and planning health services.
The presentations on the quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction aroused great interest among the participants, emphasizing that the perception of the quality of healthcare services largely depends on the communication, professionalism and empathy of healthcare staff, as well as on organizational working conditions. It was concluded that regular measurement of patient satisfaction should be the basis for making managerial and organizational decisions in healthcare institutions.
The panel discussion also presented the results of a qualitative study on intergenerational values in nursing, presented by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Marija Spevan. The study showed that, despite differences in the approach to work and communication between generations of nurses, all generations share common core values – patient care, professional ethics and the importance of teamwork. The need to actively encourage intergenerational dialogue in order to improve interpersonal relationships and the quality of care was highlighted.
The closing presentation was given by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sc. Željko Jovanović, who spoke about the importance of critical thinking in biomedical sciences and healthcare practice. He emphasized that critical thinking is the foundation of safe, ethical and responsible clinical decision-making, especially in a time marked by a large amount of information, disinformation and the rapid development of new technologies, and highlighted the key role of educational institutions in the systematic development of these competencies in students.
In conclusion, it was emphasized that the scientific forum represents a valuable example of successful cooperation between the academic community and clinical practice, as well as an important platform for the promotion of student, professional and scientific works in a real healthcare environment. The initiative to organize the meeting was launched by the mentors of the Master of Nursing degree - Kristijan Zulle, Hari Jurdana and Željko Jovanović - with the aim of increasing the visibility of students' final and diploma theses with strong mentor and institutional support.
Participants agreed that such gatherings significantly contribute to improving the quality of healthcare, developing the professional competencies of healthcare professionals, and strengthening inter-institutional cooperation, with an expressed desire for the scientific forum to become a regular platform for exchanging knowledge and experiences in the field of healthcare.
