Belarusian State Medical University

Belarusian State Medical University is the leading higher medical educational institution of the Republic of Belarus having merited international authority and recognition.

Teaching at the University is provided at 72 departments (among them 29 theoretical and 43 clinical). The academic classes are organized at 70 teaching hospitals as well as research and practical centers.

The academic process coordinated by the Academic and Methodology Board consisting of several departments and the Quality Management Sector is carried out at the corresponding faculties.

Education at the University is practice oriented. On average, 70% of classes are either tutorials or practicals in labs. From the 2nd year onwards the academic process at the clinical departments is organized at the premises of the medical institutions of the Ministry of Health, which creates all the necessary facilities for students to acquire the knowledge and skills required by the curriculum. From the 3rd year (or from the 2nd year for those majoring in dentistry) onwards the students undergo practical training, which is supervised by highly qualified specialists of the corresponding health care institutions.

The University actively implements innovative educational technologies meeting the Bologna process principles. All the University resources make up the educational portal which includes the BSMU official site and intra-net sites for teachers and students. Educational resources include a vast bank of full-text educational materials and visual aids, a considerable part of which has been created by the University teaching staff. The devised interactive E-textbooks help the students to get access to current educational literature, presentations of lectures, tests for self-training and self-control.

The educational site provides numerous teaching and resource materials, regulatory documents for organizing the teaching process. They can be found both on the sites of the corresponding departments and on the intranet site for students.

Currently, 42 clinical departments of the University (including 2 departments of the Military Medicine Faculty) are located at 70 clinical sites of Minsk healthcare and research centers. This cooperation is regulated by the agreements of gratuitous use of non-residential premises in the municipal and republican ownership and corresponding agreements on cooperation.

The BSMU sanatorium is a medical preventive institution for the treatment and rehabilitation of students during the academic year. The sanatorium has general therapeutic profile for patients with the diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, musculoskeletal system, ENT diseases as well as problems with the respiratory system and the eyes.

In the health unit one can get emergency medical care in case of diseases, injuries and poisoning. The health unit provides out-patient care of patients. According to indications a health care provider working there may put a student on a sick leave from one to three days or make him (her) exempt from physical education classes up to five days.

The staff of the University clinical departments carries out a large bulk of work providing ambulatory organizational and methodological as well as therapeutic and consultative assistance to healthcare organizations in Minsk and throughout Belarus. Up to 2000 site visits in Minsk and 250-300 visits throughout the country are performed each year. On average, up to 3,500 patients are consulted in Minsk and about 1000 throughout the country. A large number of surgical interventions are performed in severe cases.

Belarusian State Medical University is actively developing international cooperation with overseas partners. It annually signs from 10 to 15 agreements concerning academic and scientific cooperation with international research and educational institutions, is open to the establishment of new international relations and readily examines incoming proposals for collaboration.

The teaching staff of the clinical departments specializing in Surgery successfully implements new methods of treatment such as the transplantation method of treating diabetis mellitus by grafting corresponding xenogenic cell transplants; the surgical method of treating hyperparathyroidism by transplanting parathyrocytes.

Belarusian State Medical University exercises the admission of foreign citizens to the Preparatory Department and to the 1st year of study on a fee basis.

The history of the university can be traced back to 1921 when the Medical Faculty was created as a part of the Belarusian State University. The Medical Faculty became an independent educational institution in 1930. On 28 June, 2001 Minsk State Medical Institute was renamed to the state leading higher educational establishment «Belarusian State Medical University».

• 1925 — the first class of graduates (21 students were awarded the diplomas and qualified as physicians).
• 1930 — the Belarusian State Medical Institute was founded on the base of the Medical Faculty.
• From June, 1941 to October, 1943 the Institute didn’t function and then resumed its work in Yaroslavl (Russia).
• 1944 — the Belarusian State Medical Institute returned to its home place (Minsk).
• 1960 — Dental Faculty was created.
• 1964 — Pediatric Faculty and Faculty of Preventive Medicine started their activity.
• 1967 — Medical Faculty for Foreign Students appeared within the University.
• 1971 — for the achievements in training of specialist, development of Public health service and medical science Minsk State Medical Institute was rewarded with the Order of the Red Banner of Labor by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR.
• 1995 — Military Medicine Faculty was opened.
• 2001 — the University was granted its current title and status of the leading higher medical institution in Belarus.
• 2011 — Pharmaceutical Faculty appeared within the University.