This cross-sectional survey study evaluates the influence of international observerships organised by the coalition of healthcare professionals from academic institutions—the Ukrainian Alliance for Medical Exchange and Development (UA-MED)—on the professional development, knowledge transfer and clinical practice improvement of Ukrainian healthcare professionals during the war.

A total of 263 international observerships were facilitated for 204 Ukrainian medical professionals across the institutions in the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia during 2022–2024. To assess the impact of these observerships, a survey was administered focusing on overall satisfaction, procedural knowledge gained and challenges faced when implementing new techniques on return. The primary outcome was the success score, defined as a composite score of implementing new procedures, initiating quality improvement projects and knowledge dissemination efforts.

A total of 128 medical professionals from 45 Ukrainian institutions who completed 138 observerships in 27 institutions abroad participated in the survey (response rate of 62.7%). Observers varied by profession: surgeons (32.8%), radiation oncologists (14.8%), medical oncologists (11.7%), anaesthesiologists (11.7%) and others. Observerships lasted a median of 4 weeks; 74.1% included conference attendance. The average success and satisfaction scores were 6.5/10 and 9.3/10, respectively.

The majority (92.7%) reported a shift in perception of how to practise medicine and 75.5% implemented new procedures on returning to Ukraine. Encouraged to disseminate knowledge, participants provided informal training to colleagues (67.3%), prepared presentations for their institutions (65.5%) and national conferences (32.7%), incorporated learnt materials into educational lectures (39.1%) and engaged in all the activities above (15.5%).

The international observerships played an important role in enhancing the reported skills and knowledge of Ukrainian healthcare professionals during the war. Improvements were reported in clinical practice, medical education and the implementation of new procedures. The success of these observerships underscores the potential for similar programmes in other low-income and middle-income countries/upper-middle-income countries.