Department of General Medicine

The first Department of Medical Medicine, created in the Republic of Belarus, was founded at Belarusian Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education. In April, 1998, there had been organized a general medicine course at the Department of Emergency Medicine, and in 1999, it was reorganized into the Department of General Medicine. At first, there were only three lecturers – associate professors Elena Voronko, Liudmila Mrochek and Elena Ostapenko.

The first head of the Department of General Medicine was Elena Voronko, an associate professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences. In 1999, the academic staff had been extended by newcomers: associate professors Lilia Solovyova and Zinaida Chuiko, assistants Valentin Rusovich and Larisa Sikirzhitskaya.

Today, the academic staff of the department is represented by highly-qualified specialists: there are 8 Candidates of Medical Sciences, 1 Doctor of Medical Sciences. The majority of lecturers have the highest qualification category, 80 % of them are specialized in general medicine.

The department offers advanced training and retraining courses, training at clinical residency in general medicine. The most popular ones are retraining courses. For the period from 1999 to 2003, the department held 10 six-months retraining courses (4-month full-time training or 2-month part-time training courses). In 2004-2005, general practitioners, working in rural areas, did two-year full-time training courses. Since 2007 until the present, the department holds 4-months retraining courses.

In 2004, there had been organized a course on palliative medicine. The clinical base of the course is the Public Charitable Organization «Belarusian Children’s Hospice» (head of the course – Anna Gorchakova). Today, the trainees have a unique opportunity to get acquainted with the modern methods of palliative care rendered to children and adults at state establishments «Republican Clinical Center of Palliative Care for Children» and «Palliative Hospital «Hospice». Using the experience of foreign colleagues, the department carries out training on the

A list of the courses held at the department:

• a retraining course «General Medical Practice» (intramural form of training);
• an advanced training course «Medical care rendered to patients by a general practitioner»;
• an advanced training course «Emergency care and treatment of the most widespread pathology in outpatient conditions»;
• an advanced training course «Palliative care: the main principles of anaesthesia in patients with oncological pathology»;
• an advanced training course «Palliative care rendered to a patient at the terminal state: peculiarities of psychological support and medical care» (for nurses).

The courses on palliative medical care are held at Children’s Hospice (Borovlyany) and the Republican Scientific and Practical Center for Pediatric Oncology and Hematology.

The department is well-equipped: it has a unique bank-archive of electrocardiograms, trainers of otoscopy, ophthalmology, rehabilitation, «minor surgery», org- and video equipment, videofilms, books etc. Listeners learn to use computer-based information system of general practitioner, learn to work with Internet, and also consult patients etc.

Clinical residents (intramural form of training – 2 years, and intramural-extramural form of training – 3 years) get the most extensive knowledge at clinical residency on the specialty General practitioner/family doctor, where the emphasis is put on the mastering of skills in medical psychology, valeology, informatics, psychosomatics, work in a team etc. The training is hold on a cost-accounting basis and on a full scholarship.

Listeners can get useful information and skills at the courses of palliative medicine: on medical psychology, psychiatry, basics of law, management etc.