Prof. Jatužis, the New Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University “I Am Not Scared of Any Challenges”

“What made me step out of my comfort zone and run for the position of the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University? There were several reasons. First of all, having worked for many years at the faculty and as a clinician, I saw things that needed to be fixed. Of course, you may not want to leave your comfort zone, but the time came when I felt I could make a difference. I’m not intimidated by challenges, and I have faced them before – when I was applying for medical studies, choosing my speciality, and leading the Institute of Clinical Medicine. All of this has been a source of innovation and an incentive to improve. Finally, my colleagues have encouraged me and pushed me to try my hand at a new field,” says Prof. Dalius Jatužis. In November this year, he took up the position of Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University.

What was the most memorable piece of advice or request you received after you were elected Dean?

I received many congratulations and good wishes – to not give in or give up, and to not be afraid of change and to adapt. However, perhaps the most memorable suggestion was to not lose sight of life alongside the work, the science and my new responsibilities.

Tell us what changes will be implemented for the Faculty in the near future?

First of all, we will inevitably face the reorganisation of pre- and post-graduate studies and the introduction of tiered competencies. Second, the opening and launch of the Science Centre, planned for next year, will also be a major challenge, requiring the activation of research teams and the creation of new working positions. Third, the educational activities of the Medical Faculty professors require structural changes. We will discuss how to activate and strengthen this area.

In your plan of activities as a candidate for the position of Dean, you have set a goal to fully support research groups. How do you plan to do this?

Strengthening science is not only my priority but also a priority for the University. Although there is certainly a lot of progress and the professors have made a lot of progress in their fields of science (the number of project activities and scientific publications has increased over the last years), this is certainly not the ceiling. There is more and better to be done if only we can help and support research teams. As I have already mentioned in my roadmap, it would be very beneficial to have a research support group with experts competent in statistics, biostatistics, bioethics, article writing and project preparation. They could provide methodological support, advice to research teams, help with writing project outlines, and so on. Many medical schools abroad, have such specialists. I think it would make sense to follow their example.

Another form of assistance would be targeted support for the research groups with the highest achievements. This could take many forms – prioritising the acquisition of the necessary infrastructure, and considering the issue of fellows, for example.

In your Roadmap, you also noted the importance of creating a favourable psycho-emotional atmosphere and of involving non-academic staff more in the community and life of the faculty. Why is this important? What measures will you use and what will it take to achieve these objectives?

It is important that people are enthusiastic to come to work, and don’t feel coerced. They are motivated because that is where they meet like-minded people, where they find colleagues who create a supportive emotional atmosphere and to whom they can turn for advice and support. These seemingly simple things make a big difference. When employees feel satisfied with their work, with the results, and their daily interactions, they can get much more done in a day, and do it better. In other words, the quality of an employee’s life depends on the quality of their performance – this is nothing new.

How to actually achieve this, is a more difficult question, because we are all individuals, with our own character, our own disposition, our own way of looking at life. There have and always will be a variety of people in a team, but we need to find a common denominator so that everyone feels that Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine is a second home. We spend almost a third of our lives at work, so it is important that the workplace is not a place where people are forced to stay for eight hours. I would like it to be a place where they do something valuable, feel it and find it fulfilling.

The awakening of a sense of community can be achieved in a variety of ways: teambuilding activities, outings, and cultural and sporting events. A positive microclimate in the workplace is also important, based on human values such as mutual respect between supervisor and subordinate, between colleagues, and between academic and non-academic staff. I think there is a lot to be done, and how it will work is another question. It is easy to say in theory, but it may be more difficult to put into practice. However, where I have worked previously, I have usually been able, as far as possible, to manage the microclimate in a positive direction. But it is certainly a challenge – perhaps in a year’s time, we will be able to say whether there has been a shift.

This is not your first management-level position. What kind of leader do you think you are?

Many people say that I am tolerant, positive, quite cheerful, enthusiastic, and proactive and that I try to keep an objective view. Others say I am perhaps even too good. This is how I am perceived from the outside, but what about reality? It seems to me that I can be both angry and harsh – I try to be impartial, but at the same time, demanding, and empathetic. I try to understand the other person, for example, why they were angry that day, why was it they didn’t do what they needed to do, or why they didn’t do it the way we might expect. It’s about personal qualities. But I would also mention something else. In my previous leadership roles, I have always tried to keep in mind the main purpose of a leader’s mission: to achieve the goals and objectives of the association, clinic or institute through a combination of means that seem appropriate to me.

What inspires you most in your daily life? Where do you draw your strength from?

I am inspired by all work I do that is necessary, meaningful and motivating. I am annoyed by my own unfinished work. When there’s a lot to do, you can’t keep up with it all – the backlog grows and it causes tension and frustration. But work that is useful and necessary for someone else provides positive emotions, inspires us to think and then the day was not in vain! The support of co-workers, friends and family members is also very encouraging.

When I am not at work, I look up at the sky, at the leaves on the trees, at the flowing river, nature’s changes, life turns, nothing is standing still, and you remember that the weekend is approaching – it’s very motivating.

Tell us what do you like to do in your free time? Which of your current activities do you enjoy most and why?

I have a lot of hobbies; the only problem is a lack of free time. There is very little I haven’t tried. I like fishing, both in Lithuania and in Norway or other countries. I’ve been taking photographs for a long time; I have several cameras and I reach for them all the time. In the past, my main leisure activity was music: singing, playing various folk instruments – the concertina, bandoneon, lumzdelis (a long flute-like Lithuanian folk musical wind instrument), various small and bigger horns, and a zither. I spent 10 years in the Vilnius University folklore ensemble Ratilio. Now I sing in the Santaros Mixed Chamber Choir, which is made up of medical professionals. It’s a very good, positive and brain-cleansing activity. Also, ever since we were students, my peers and I still get together once or twice a week to play basketball. Cultural activities are also very important, and almost every week we go to the theatre or to a concert with family and close friends.

If you could meet anyone who has ever lived or is still living, who would that be and why?

I would like to meet Dr Jonas Basanavičius. It would be interesting to talk to him, to ask him what pushed him to do something that I imagine was almost impossible in those days – the proclamation of the Act of Independence. At that time, it must have been almost unbelievable to consider the establishment of Lithuania as a state. However, we can now see what was achieved thanks to these incredible people – we were among the leading European states between the wars. Even the 50 years of Soviet rule did not shake the Lithuanian language and culture. We can only thank those people who, at the beginning of the 20th century, took up such an altruistic idea while living well themselves. Apparently, they believed very strongly that it could be done and they did it.

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Prof. Dr. Dalius Jatužis was born on 18 January 1968 in Biržai.

Education and professional activities

1991 – completed the medical studies programme at the Faculty of Medicine of Vilnius University
1995 – became a qualified neurologist
1996 to present – Doctor at the Centre of Neurology, Vilnius University Hospital Santaros Clinic
1999 – was awarded a doctoral degree in Biomedical Sciences
1999 to present – a member of the World Federation of Neurology and Educational Coordinator for Lithuania
2007 to present – President of the Lithuanian Stroke Association
2009 to present – Full Member of the European Stroke Organisation
2012 – was conferred the title of professor
2015 to present – Lithuanian delegate to the European Academy of Neurology
2015 to present – President of the Lithuanian Neurological Association
2017 to present – Director of the Institute of Clinical Medicine, Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine
Currently – Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Vilnius University
Research interests: stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases; ultrasound studies of cerebrovascular circulation.