Medical Education in Russia.

There is a great number of medical schools in Russia. Applicants have to pass 3 entrance exams to get into medical school. Usually they are chemistry, biology and Russian literature.

Medical education in Russia is very competitive. There are up to 10 candidates for each place at medical school. The entrance exams take place over 10 days in July. Students who fail at these exams can reapply the next year.

Medical education takes 6 years in Russia. The first two years are pre-clinical – students study anatomy, physiology, physics, histology and also philosophy. From the beginning of the course they spend one day a week in hospital, where students learn how to take patients’ blood, pressure and temperature and to give injections.

The third year is a transitional year between the pre-clinical and clinical years. Students learn pathology, pharmacology, general surgery and general medicine. At the end of the third year all students take a six-week practical course as nursing assistants.

The fourth and the fifth years are clinical. Students have tutorials in the mornings, then see patients and have lectures in the afternoons. After a fourth year students have a practical course lasting 8 weeks. They work as doctors’ assistants at the therapeutical, surgical, obstetric and gynecological and other departments. After the fifth year they take a six-week course in out-patients’ clinics.

In the sixth year students work on chosen specialization almost as real doctors under the supervision of specialists.

Upon completion of the sixth year, having passed state exams, graduates get a diploma. After one year internship they receive a certificate of specialization. After qualifying students do one or two years of residency. Postgraduate training includes 3 years of research and leads after defending a thesis to a Candidate of Sciences (Medicine).

Saratov state medical university.

Our medical university is old. It was founded in 1909. It was the 10^th university in Russia. At that time the university had only one medical faculty. The founder and the first rector was professor V. Razumovsky, an outstanding surgeon.

The first 93 students admitted to the university were men. Women were not allowed to study at the university till 1914. Several departments in the basic sciences were opened at that time: Physiology, Chemistry, General and Operative Surgery, Histology, Forensic Medicine and others.

In 1930 the university was reorganized. An independent medical institute was formed. There were 3 faculties at the institute: Medical, Sanitary-Prophylactic and Care of Mother and Child. Many talented scientists worked at the institute at that time. They were Mirotvortsev, Bogomolets, Spasokukotsky and many others. The institute trained a lot of highly qualified specialists. They worked in different fields of medicine.

Since 1993 the institute is the university again. Now there are 6 faculties. They are faculty of medicine, faculty of pediatrics, faculty of dentistry, faculty of nursing, faculty of preventive medicine and pharmaceutical faculty.

I am a student of the pediatric faculty. At our faculty the course of studies lasts for 6 years and consists of pre-clinical, transitional and clinical periods. The general theoretic and practical training ends in the 5^th year. During the 6^th year students study at the sub-internship. There they take the primary specialization as pediatricians, surgeons and infectionists. At the end of the 6^th year students have state exams, receive their diploma and apply for internship. At the internship young doctors can specialize in therapy, nervous diseases, psychiatry, eye diseases, otolaryngology and radiology. After the specialization students have an exam in their speciality.