Belarusian State Medical University

Belarusian State Medical University

Establishment date – 1921.
Certificate of state registration ¹
100582412 of June 30, 2004 issued by
the City Executive Committee
(Administration of registration and
licensing).
License for educational activity ¹ 02100 / 0112482 of July 18, 2006 issued by the Education Ministry of the Republic of
Belarus. The Diploma of the Belarusian State Medical University is presently recognized by the Education Ministry of Syria.zz

General Information

Belarusian State Medical University is a leading higher medical education provider in the Republic of Belarus. The University has a strong international reputation across a wide range of disciplines. In its present form it was established in 1930 under the title of Minsk State Medical Institute, though the academic heritage can be traced back to 1921, when a Medical Faculty was created as a part of Belarusian State University.

Below you will find some chronological events from the history of the University:
1925 — the first 21 graduates were released
1930 – it was granted a status of Minsk Medical Institute
June 1941 — Oct 1943 — the University temporarily stopped its activity because of the war. Later the activity was
renewed in the city of Yaroslavl (Russia).
1944 — the University returned to its home place (Minsk)
1960 — Dentistry Faculty was created.
1964 — Pediatric and Preventive Medicine Faculties started their activity.
1967 — Medical Faculty for International Students appeared within the University
1995 — Military Medicine Faculty was opened
2001 — the University was granted its current title and status of the leading higher medical institution in Belarus with 67 divisions, 834 professors, associate professors, lecturers and research workers.

There are over 6400 registered fulltime students, following diploma programmes, post -graduate students and clinical residents. The teaching process is organized at six faculties, including General Medicine, Pediatrics, Preventive Medicine,
Dentistry, Military Medicine and Faculty for International Students. The National Health Service Ministry regulates and continually assesses the teaching and learning styles of the University. The academic staff regularly participate in international conferences and symposia. Practical courses are taught at the best city hospitals and out-patient clinics
which enables us to apply the most advanced teaching methods.

Teaching stuff at the university

At the University work 834 teachers, and more than 64% of them have scientific degree:
2 academicians and corresponding-members of the National Academy of sciences of the Republic of Belarus;
13 prize winners of the State Prizes of the USSR, BSSR and Republic of Belarus;
12 Honoured Science Workers of the BSSR and Republic of Belarus;
3 Honoured Doctors of the BSSR and Republic of Belarus;
2 Honoured Workers of Education of the Republic of Belarus and 2 Honoured Workers of Health Care of the Republic of Belarus
Over 300 workers of clinical chairs have the highest medical category.

• University library;
• Health Center;
• Information Science Center;
• Student scientific Society;
• International Student Center;
• Student Sport Club;
• Student Folk Club;
• Student Theater.

Faculties Category

The Faculty of General Medicine

A tutorial staff of 232 professionals, including 30 Doctors of Science with MD and 127 with Ph D degrees are involved in training and research activities at the Faculty of General Medicine. The full — time student population numbers 2676 students.

Nowadays the faculty trains students in the 20 specialities: Military-medical treatment, Obstetrics and gynecology, Anesthesiology and resuscitation, Dermatovenereology, Infectious diseases, Beam diagnostics and beam therapy, Neurology, The general medical practice, Public health and public health services, Otolaryngology, Ophthalmology, Pathological anatomy, Psychiatry, Psychiatry-narcology,
Forensic medical examination, Therapy, Traumatology and orthopedy, Physiotherapy, Phthisiology, Surgery.

After a compulsory one-year intern course they are granted with the Certificates officially allowing them to start medical practice.

To satisfy the diverse needs of students the Faculty is committed to ensure a good experience for all students and help them to settle better into academic and social life. It has a very active arts scene with its own PANATSEYA Student Folk Theatre, which is always on the look out for new recruits. Sport Clubs (basketball, volleyball, football etc.) are open to all, giving the chance to dip into activities outside the training course and meet students and staff across other disciplines. Special care is taken to provide the most suitable accommodation for international students, including married couples, which is usually in student hostels.

The Faculty of Preventive Medicine

Nowadays there are 768 students on this faculty. After 6 years of studies the graduates of the faculty work as interns in the leading Hygiene and Epidemiology Centers for a year, and after taking an attestation can work in the following fields: General Hygiene; Children’s and Teenagers’ Hygiene; Nutrition Hygiene;
Professional Hygiene; Community Medicine; Radiation Hygiene and Ecology; Epidemiology; Bacteriology; Parasitology; Valeology; Laboratory Investigations; Medical Statistics; work as scientific researchers and teachers of the disciplines mentioned.

The teaching staff take an active part in scientific research work aimed at improving prevention and treatment of wide-spread diseases in the Republic and at training qualified medical personnel. The prospects of further development and improving the specialists’ training include:

• updating the laboratory and technical base of the Hygiene departments; further continuation of using computer technologies in the teaching process;
• opening and equipping computer rooms at the departments of Radiation Medicine and Ecology;
• improving the training of the graduates in laboratory diagnosis of environmental conditions, preventive toxicology, economy and management in health care; introducing specialized training in hospital epidemiology, laboratory diagnosis of environmental conditions and other disciplines for the 5th and 6th year students;
• further improvement of the methodical provision for interns; development of continuing education for basic preparation, postgraduate and refresher courses both at the faculty departments and in the Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education.

The Faculty of Pediatrics

Nowadays the teaching and training staff employs 168 specialists, including 24 Doctors of Science with MD, 78 Ph D specialists, 18 Professors and 49 Senior lecturers.

At present, within the Pediatric Faculty there are the following divisions:

• Pediatrics
• Children's surgery
• Public health and public health services.

The Faculty offers a comprehensive range of courses taught at the above divisions. On the basis of the 1-st Division of Pediatric Diseases a Republic School of Pediatric Nephrology is currently being created; while on the basis of the 2-nd division a Pediatric
Pulmonology Centre has been set up. Pediatric Surgery Division is engaged in the research of inherited neonatal pathology and sepsis. Pediatric Pathology Division is involved in solving problems of genetics and early pathology detection in young pediatric patients and teenagers.

Currently graduates of the Faculty have a strong reputation across a wide range of pediatric disciplines and are equipped with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed at their workplace. Having been trained in three main specialties (pediatrics, pediatric surgery and pediatric anesthesiology) they work as immunologists, neuropathologists, cardiorheumatologists, oncohematologists, ophthalmologists, endocrinologists and teenager gynecologists.

Practical courses are taught at the best Republic Pediatric Centres. The Faculty has its own clinical and laboratory facilities and a strong commitment to continually developing its research facilities, equipment and services.

The Faculty of Dentistry

Dental Faculty was in 1996. Our faculty was one of the first among the medical higher educational establishments in the former USSR to adopt a new teaching curriculum approved by the Dental Education Association under the auspices of the WHO. The new curriculum has a greater focus on specialized dental disciplines.

The curriculum in Dentistry adopted by the BSMU has also been adopted by the dental faculties in the Dnepropetrovsk and Kirghiz State Medical Academies.

Teaching at the Dental Faculty extends over 5 years. In the first two years the students study dental materials, functional anatomy, laboratory techniques of denture fabrication, master the techniques of manipulations on phantoms (simulators). From the third year
onwards the students have practical training at the clinical departments of therapeutic dentistry, orthopedic dentistry, maxillo-facial surgery, pedodontia, surgery stomathology and orthodontia, where they examine patients under the guidance of experienced instructors.

The dental training is carried on by the departments at the base of the Republic Dental Clinic, the departments of maxillo-facial surgery in Minsk City Hospital # 9 and other dental clinics and departments of the city. The material and technical supply of the faculty has been considerably improved and it has given a better opportunity for the students to master modern techniques.

Besides special training in dental disciplines dental students acquire knowledge in medico-biological subjects aimed at the profile of a dentist. For instance the Department of Human Morphology founded in 1998 deals with intergrated teaching of Anatomy, Histology, Topographic Anatomy and Surgery according to a special syllabus for dental students. The students of the faculty also undergo training in the specialities of general medicine. It gives them a better insight into the integrity of the human body. The students’ life at the faculty is versatile and interesting. During their studies the students can carry out research at numerous theoretical and clinical departments.

Besides their studies and research work, the students can take part in theatrical activities, sports competitions as well as traditional international festivals for medical students. The dental faculty trains about 770 students. The faculty has 9 specialized departments.

The teaching staff of these department includes 230 specialists, 16 Doctors of Science, 125 Ph D specialists, 13 Professors and 78 Senior lecturers Medical Faculty for International Students. Nowadays there are nearly 660 students and clinical residents from foreign countries.

No matter how far the graduates of the University could be they keep in touch with their alma mater. To a great extent thanks to these graduates Belarus is becoming recognized and known in the world, and the new generation of potential students who intend to get
training abroad choose Belarussian educational establishments where their parents, brothers, sisters or acquaintances once studied.

At present Belarus is hosting about 4000 international students, that is 3 times less than in the Soviet times. But possessing the scientific heritage, experienced lecturers and well-established traditions in training overseas citizens, Belarus can successfully compete with Russia and Ukraine in the educational market.

The BSMU provides education to young people from a number of developing countries, thus contributing to the development of the financial and technical base of the University, and the Republic of Belarus in general. The work of the Medical Faculty for International
Students is important both from the international aspect and political as well. The development of contacts, attracting new countries the citizens of which would like to study at our University help improve international relations. The student who graduated from our University will pass the information about the Republic of Belarus, being in a way its advertizing agent. Consequently not only the cost of study but mainly the quality of medical education become of prior importance. The country the young specialist comes from will evaluate his level of training. In case a young doctor is not able to confirm his diploma it will have a very negative impact on the number of future students from this country.

The main goal of the activities of the Medical Faculty, the International Department and the Rector’s boardis to acquire for our diploma an international status. To make our diploma a 100% guarantee for international employers the teaching staff of the University should work real hard. The Medical Faculty for International Students and the departments of the University are in constant search of improved curricula with an emphasis on specific pathologies in different countries; they work out methodical guides adopted for international students. The key to success in the educational process also depends on the basic level of future students. So the tests for the entrance exams which help make a quality selection of candidates to the 1st year are revised and improved every year. Overseas students are encouraged to get training at the Preparatory Department. Our experience has proved that after a good training at the Preparatory Department the students make a much better progress in the study at the University.

The Medical Faculty of International Students, the Department of International Relations and the Department of Post-Graduate Training have been actively working at recruiting foreigners to get quality training at the clinical residency and the Department of Post-Graduate Training. Our University possesses a great scientific and clinical potential to provide such training.

The Medical Faculty of the University pays great attention to educational work. Overseas students live in comfortable dormitories, they can easily communicate with each other in their national groups, celebrate national and religious holidays. Meetings of the University authorities and leaders of the national groups where they discuss current problems, exchange opinions on various aspects of life of overseas students in the Republic of Belarus, are held on a regular basis. The Ministry of Health, The Ministry of Education, The Visa Department of Minsk are of great help in solving different legislative problems.

International students must pay for their education at the Medical University. Depending on the speciality one year at our University costs $3000-4800. The received money goes not only to the University but part of it goes to the state. The student also pays for medical insurance, residence registration, medical service. Unlike the Soviet times when only the most gifted candidates were selected, nowadays those who can afford to pay for tuition, come to study in our country. During the first 3-4 mouths future students take an intensive course of Russian at the Preparatory Department, and then start special subjects taught at high school. This helps them get acquainted with special terms in Russian and catch up with the standards of high school education in our country. Good results at the graduation examination at the Preparatory Department entitle them to be admitted to the 1st year of the University.

We have to reconstruct what has been lost, but sometimes it turns out impossible to do it at one educational establishment. For the first time in the post-Soviet period we arranged centralized testing to select the best candidates in their own country.

Now students demonstrate a much better educational level and good motivation. But the general low educational level of international students does not necessarily mean that after becoming students and then getting a Belarusian diploma they will return to their countries without adequate professional training. In 30 years the teaching staff of the University has prepared more than 2100 foreign specialists and can be proud of them.

The Belarusian diploma as well as the scientific potential of the University have a high reputation, and this fact attracts many international students. The international graduate gets a similar diploma as a Belarusian graduate, the only difference being an English record and the title of M.D.- Doctor of Medicine awarded to the graduate. The diploma has an appendix containing the record of grades and hours of studies in the subjects taken during the course of training. These records are checked with the curriculum of local educational establishments by the so-called medical councils abroad before taking a qualification examination to confirm the received diploma. Such qualification confirmation is not required in the countries which signed a special government agreement.

The Faculty of Military Medicine

Head of the Faculty of Military Medicine: Shnitko Svetoslav Nikolaevich

The Faculty of Military Medicine of the Belarusian State Medical University was established in 1995 (at the order of the Defense Minister and Minister of Health in coordination with the Minister of Education) to train medical specialists for the Armed Forces and other military units. Before 1995 after the 4th year future doctors who decided to devote their life to Military medical career used to go to Leningrad and Kujbyshev which were the centers of training doctors for the Army. The 6 year training course at the Faculty makes main emphasis on deep study of military medical subjects. The speciality is medicine, specialization — military medicine, qualification — doctor.

Hospitals and departments of the Medical University, clinical medical prophylactic institutions of the Ministry of Health, the Military Academy of the Republic of Belarus, the State establishment (Central Military Clinical Hospital #42 and the Central Military out-patient Clinic), sanitation-epidemiological centre #223, Central Military dental out-patient clinic #348, Central Military forensic laboratory #80, the Central Military Medical commission, other army units and formations are used as training bases at the Faculty.

The main goals pursued by the staff of the Faculty include training and continuing education of military medical specialists, training of clinical residents and adjutants, scientific research of the main theoretical and practical issues of military medicine.

The training is provided by highly-qualified specialists: 7 Doctors of Science, 14 PhDs in Medicine, 3 professors and 12 associate professors. 4 departments work at the Faculty of Military Medicine: the Departments of Organization of Medical Protection and Catastrophe Medicine, Military Epidemiology and Military Hygiene, Military Field Therapy, Military Field Surgery.

The first graduates of the Faculty got their diplomas in 1998. More than 100 military medical specialists got their start in life at the Faculty of Military Medicine. From the first days at the University the students are encouraged to participate in scientific research. Every department organizes a students’ scientific circle where students can participate in different scientific projects worked out by the department. It helps them acquire necessary skills in reading scientific literature, using modern medical and diagnostic equipment and carrying out scientific experiments. After the 5th year the students are awarded the military rank «lieutenant». The graduates get their next military rank (chief lieutenant) and a diploma of medical education after they have successfully passed the state examinations in the 6th year. For more information contact us.