Central Asian Respiratory School
CARS develops leaders in respiratory medicine education across Central Asia and Switzerland — a faculty development model grounded in evidence-based medicine and high-altitude respiratory health.
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Co-led from Switzerland and Central Asia
The programme is led by two co-directors. One brings the high-altitude respiratory medicine research base of University Hospital Zurich; the other heads the clinical work at the National Center of Cardiology and Internal Medicine in Bishkek.
Prof. Konrad E. Bloch
Senior pulmonologist at University Hospital Zurich with a long-standing research programme on respiratory health at high altitude. Specific interests include COPD, sleep-disordered breathing and pulmonary hypertension in highland populations. Recent work (2026) on self-monitoring of altitude illness in COPD patients. Active in the Kyrgyz-Swiss High-Altitude Medicine and Research Initiative.
Prof. Talant M. Sooronbaev
Leading pulmonologist in Kyrgyzstan, head of pulmonology at the National Center of Cardiology and Internal Medicine in Bishkek. Recent work includes a 2026 ERJ Open Research trial on oxygen therapy for highlanders at the Aksay plateau, and the FRESH AIR programme on chronic lung disease in Kyrgyzstan. Co-leader of the Kyrgyz-Swiss High-Altitude Medicine and Research Initiative.
CARS current course
CARS Fellowship 2025–2027
A two-year fellowship of the Central Asian Respiratory School, training future leaders in education of respiratory physicians across Central Asia.
Every faculty member we train will teach dozens of physicians. Every physician will see thousands of patients. That is how respiratory medicine grows across Central Asia.
Inside a CARS workshop
A workshop runs through several clinical and educational phases. Members work on the respiratory ward, review cases with visiting experts, prepare teaching modules, and close the session with a residents' symposium. Length, location, and topics are set per workshop. A sequence of workshops forms a course, which one cohort of CARS members completes together.
Opening symposium
Programme update, presentation of workshop topics, review of existing modules.
Clinical week
Daily ward rounds and outpatient consultations at the host clinic. Case derivation for EPA modules, discussions with faculty.
Mountain retreat
Development of teaching modules based on the week's clinical cases. Peer review and refinement among participants.
Residents' symposium
Pre-test of residents' knowledge → training with the prepared modules → post-test to measure progress.
Regional outreach
Optional: a field workshop for physicians in a partner region. Topics and locations vary by workshop and local need.