MAS in Stroke Medicine

The programme was initially developed and hosted by the Center of Clinical Neurosciences of the Danube-University in Krems, Austria in close collaboration with the European Stroke Organisation from 2007-2021. We are proud to act as successor and to continue this important educational activity after diligent enhancement now at the University of Bern.

The purpose of the programme is to cover the entire field of stroke medicine, ranging from basic knowledge in pathophysiology, acute management of ischaemic and haemorrhagic stroke, primary and secondary prevention to neurorehabilitation. In addition, a research focus is maintained throughout all lectures, workshop and seminars, covering all aspects of basic, translational and clinical stroke research. An international faculty of world leading stroke experts will provide lectures, seminars and workshops in close collaboration with the local faculty at the University of Bern.

The programme covers five semesters and is structured in nine modules and a master thesis. It consists of 3 weeks of face-to-face teaching at the University Hospital Bern with intensive on-site learning courses and hands-on training. The other parts of the programme will be achieved by distance learning. The University of Bern will provide an all-in-one Learning Platform, offering an exceptional learning experience. This learning platform will enable students to participate at lectures, workshops and webinars, to interact with the programme coordinators and the faculty, to access the online library with teaching material, videos, guidelines and scientific articles. Practical experiences will be gained at established stroke centers throughout Europe with internships of 3 weeks.

This postgraduate course is offered to meet the demands of the increased incidence of stroke across Europe and to enable the harmonization of knowledge about diagnosis and therapy of stroke on an evidence-based basis. The need for medical doctors in the field of stroke medicine to have theoretical knowledge and practical skills on the topics of prevention, acute treatment, rehabilitation and the follow-up treatment of patients is steadily growing. This programme will not only enable the participants to advance scientifically but ultimately help them leading a unit for stroke medicine or to take on a managerial function.

Organising institution

Department of Neurology of the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital

Scientific core team

• Prof. Dr. med. Simon Jung
• Prof. Dr. med. Urs Fischer
• PD Dr. med. Thomas Meinel
• Dr. med. Vasileios Tentolouris
• PD Dr. med. Bastian Volbers
• Prof. Dr. med. David Seiffge
• Prof. Dr. med. David Bervini
• Prof. Dr. med. Jan Gralla
• Prof. Dr. med. Mirjam Heldner
• Prof. Dr. Tobias Nef
• Prof. Dr. med. Susanne Wegener
• Prof. Dr. med. Marcel Arnold

Advisory Board

• em. Prof. Dr. med. Michael Brainin, AT
• Prof. Dr. med. Valeria Caso, IT
• Prof. Dr. med. Hanne Krarup Christensen, DK
• Prof. Dr. med. Jens Fiehler, DE
• Prof. Dr. med. Zuzana Gdovinová, SK
• Prof. Dr. med. Janika Kõrv, EE
• Prof. Dr. med. Peter Rothwell, UK
• Prof. Dr. med. Cristina Tiu, RO

international faculty

The European Stroke Master has an amazing international faculty including the best stroke experts around the world. Here is a selection of our honoured speakers from the first round 2022 - 2024:

• Prof. Dr. Argye Hillis, Johns Hopkins University Hospital, Baltimore, Maryland, US
• Prof. Dr. Bart van der Worp, University Medical Center Utrecht, Netherlands
• Prof. Dr. Bruce Campbell, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Australia
• Prof. Dr. Craig Anderson, The George Institute, University of New South Wales
• Prof. Dr. David Werring, University College London, United Kingdom
• Prof. Dr. Diana de Aguiar Dias de Sousa, Lisbon Central University Hospital, Portugal
• Prof. Dr. Diederik Dippel, Erasmus University Medical Center, Netherlands
• Prof. Dr. Eric E. Smith, University of Calgary, Alberta Canada
• Prof. Dr. Guido Falcone, Yale School of Medicine, US
• Prof. Dr. Guillaume Turc, University of Paris, France
• Prof. Dr. Hans Christoph Diener, University Duisburg-Essen, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Jens Fiehler, University Medical Center Hamburg, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Joanna Wardlaw, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
• Prof. Dr. Kevin Sheth, Yale School of Medicine, US
• Prof. Dr. Louis Caplan, Harvard Medical School, US
• Prof. Dr. Martin Dichgans, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Michael Hill, University of Calgary, Alberta Canada
• Prof. Dr. Mira Katan, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
• Prof. Dr. Peter Rothwell, University of Oxford, UK
• Prof. Dr. Rene Chapot, Alfried Krupp Hospital Essen, Germany
• Prof. Dr. Simona Sacco, University of L’Aquila, Italy
• Prof. Dr. Stephanie Debette, University of Bordeaux, France
• Prof. Dr. Thanh Nguyen, Boston Medical Center, US
• Prof. Dr. Urs Fischer, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
• Prof. Dr. Vincent Costalat, University Hospital Montpellier, France
• Prof. Dr. Wim van Zwam, Maastricht University Medical Center, Netherlands
• and many more!

In addition to professional experience in the field of stroke, the prerequisites for admission to this programme are:

• a university degree at the level of a master’s degree in medicine or psychology or
• a university degree at the master’s level in a field of health sciences or
• a university degree at the master's level in natural or engineering sciences.

The programme committee specifies these requirements.

Exceptions to the admission requirements may be approved by the programme committee “sur dossier”. In the case of people without a university degree or professional experience, the programme committee may impose further conditions for admission in order to ensure that they can successfully complete the course.

The programme committee decides on admission to the course at the request of the study management.

There is no entitlement to admission. The final decision on admission to the programme will be communicated after the registration deadline.

Registration

If you want to apply for the European Stroke Master, please register here. To increase your chances of getting accepted, follow the instructions and provide us with all the requested information and documents. The registration window is open until 30 September 2023. You will be informed about the scholarship selection before 18 November 2023 and about the applicants selection before 30 November 2023. The Study programme can accept ~30 applicants per round. There will be a waiting list, in case one of the selected applicants withdraws for some reason or does not pay the first installment.

Tuition fee

The tuition fee is CHF20'000. This is approximately $20'000 or €20'000. It can be paid in installments with an individual payment plan (1xCHF20'000; 2xCHF10'000; 4xCHF5'000; 5xCHF4'000; 10xCHF2'000). The first installment payment date is 31 December 2023. The first installment ultimately confirms the participation for the MAS in Stroke Medicine.

Scholarships

We offer scholarships in variable amounts. To be considered for scholarships, all requested documents must be uploaded during the registration process or sent to info@strokemaster.ch.

• Personally signed letter of motivation (with reference to current occupation, two pages maximum) with current date
• Letter of recommendation from your current employer; the letter must have letterhead, a signature and must be of current date
• List of publications (if available)
• Proof that the remaining amount can be paid

The selection of the scholarship recipients will be made after the registration window has closed.

ESO scholarships:

The European Stroke Organisation offers different scholarship types:

• Low- or middle income countries: 3 partial scholarships (CHF 15'000)
• High-income countries: 3 partial scholarships (CHF 5'000)

To be considered for an ESO scholarship, please read te ESO scholarship information for MAS in Stroke Medicine programme.

Industry scholarships:

There is the possibility that industry partners will also provide scholarships. We do not know yet, how many scholarships and to which amount we will be able to offer industry scholarships.

Personal sponsor:

We encourage you to find your personal sponsor for your tuition fee. Your employer might take over some of the costs.