The best general rule to follow in seeking good medical education is based on the old saying, “The old is gold.” In many situations in our daily life we select the best by age and experience. We buy a house from a builder who has spent years building good houses. When we travel by air, we prefer an airline with a long record of safety. When it comes to our personal needs, we select a dentist who is experienced and for a serious illness, we go to a Doctor who has spent years treating that particular illness.
In our daily lives we select products and services by age, experience with a long history of excellence. Shouldn’t we apply the same principle in selecting the best medical establishment for our education?
In a search for the best medical education, it would be naive to think that all the medical universities in the Russian Federation are above world standards when it comes to providing excellent training and education in the field of medicine. Just like any other place, the Russian medical universities maintain standards that can be considered below those to a number of well known medical schools abroad. It is unfair to say that all the medical schools in the Russia are excellent and all the schools abroad are below standard. In reality, there are excellent schools in Russia, and then there are universities which can be called good, and there are some below standard too. By the same token, not all the foreign schools are excellent or good either. To find the difference between good and average, you should apply several standards and criteria which are essential and fundamental to a good medical education.
In our view, the best medical university will have the following 7 characteristics:
1. Years of experience in providing medical education. The institution must be minimum of 50 years old or older, since it takes almost that much of time for an institution of higher education to grow, mature and become deeply rooted in society.
Voronezh State Medical Academy is the Oldest Medical Educational Establishment in Russia with a great history from 1802.
2. Teaching hospitals. A medical university must have several of its own well established, modem teaching hospitals. If the university does not have these, then the students are put in to a very disadvantageous position. The lack of clinical teaching facilities of its own should raise a red flag about that university because the scope of education that can be provided is greatly limited.
To summarize this point, we will say that a good medical university should have not just one or two teaching hospitals, but several well equipped, furnished with modern teaching hospitals to prepare you for the demands of a medical profession.
Voronezh State Medical Academy is affiliated with 29 Hospitals with a network of Polyclinics where medical students gain exposure and practical skills required for their future profession.
3. Small class size. Small group classes may be considered a luxury for some; but it’s a must for medical students to interact closely with the professors and teaching medical staff. Many of these so-called universities for profit have more than 40 students per class.
Maximum size of a Voronezh State Medical Academy class is 12 students .
4. Ample Research Facilities. Good research facilities and programs go hand in hand with a good medical college. Some new medical teaching establishments have research facilities just for the sake of saying. This kind of institution cannot be called a research-oriented facility.
A good medical teaching university must have real research programs and must have opportunities for research in each of its teaching departments. This type of situation would give the “Future Doctors” important chances to be exposed to many multi-disciplinary research projects.
The Research and Development work at Voronezh State Medical Academy is carried out within the framework of the program “Optimization of measures for the prevention and treatment of Diseases in present eco-hygienical conditions”. This includes 11 research projects carried out by all of the 78 Departments of the Academy.
5. High Quality Teaching staff. It is essential for a good medical education facility to have a highly qualified post-graduate-Level-trained staff with professors having Ph.D. in research as well as a post-graduate degree in medicine. Universities where the majority of the staff have a combination of M.D. and Ph.D. degrees are in a position to give you the best training in science and research.
Within Voronezh State Medical Academy’s 76 Departments, 800 full-time faculty staff engage in education, research & development work. Among them: 117 are Professors in Medical specialties and 540 hold Ph.D. Degrees.
6. Recognition and Accreditation. To qualify initially on an international level the University must be approved, recognized, and listed by the World Health Organization (WHO), currently headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland. Almost all member nations currently go by this standard as an initial requirement for permitting medical graduates to meet the license requirements in the member nation.
The school must be recognized and accredited by the government of the country where the school is located. Fully government-supported schools are in better shape for worldwide recognition than privately managed schools.
Voronezh State Medical Academy is fully sponsored by Russian Government and recognized by WHO.
7. Inter University/International Relationships and Reputation. A good medical university will have active working relationships with many similar institutions around the globe. Agreements on research, cooperation, and transfer of technology with other medical universities, both those located in the same country and those located abroad, are important for quality of education, credibility, and recognition on an international basis.
A school should be known internationally, locally and regionally, for research and development in various fields of medicine. This type of international level research will allow the student to get exposure to important techniques, procedures, advancements in medicine and research as they are carried out in various parts of the world.
The Voronezh State Medical Academy plays an active role in 84 Federal, Regional, Inter-Regional and International research projects and programs. The most important projects include corporation with the Institute of Aviation and Space Medicine of the Russian Federation, with the Brain Institute of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, with the Institutes of Reanimation and Pharmacology of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, With the Medical Faculty of the Humboldt University in Berlin, University Clinic Charite-Germany, with the Charitable Fund for the improvement of the health and vision of child orphans Russia/USA within the framework of the program “Improvement of the health condition of orphan children”.
We would like to mention with pride that when you search for the best medical facilities in the light of truth, you will discover that Voronezh State Medical Academy is second to none and possess all the qualities and characteristics of the finest institutions for higher education.