Thread: Russia or Ukraine? which is best for Medicine?

hi Docs..
i live in India and i am planning to do my medical studies from eastern Europe. actually, west is expensive comparatively... and i cannot afford it. i have done a lot of research on universities. i have contacted to many students as well.. :P and i have short listed 4 universities.

Russia:
1) Smolensk State Medical Academy (22nd in world ranking)
2) Kazan State Medical University (16th in world ranking)

[i'd prefer Smolensk sma because i am purely/strictly vegetarian and they have vegetarian mess facility available for students and Kazan city is non-vegetarian and no mess facility]

Ukraine:
1)Kharkiv National Medical University
2)V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, Medical School

now i am really confused in selecting any one from them. one student from Lugansk (Ukraine) told me that Ukraine, especially Kharkiv, is better than Russia for students. and universities of Ukraine is good and student friendly. and he said that Kharkiv city is full of international students!
on the contrary i have read on many sites that Ukraine is not good for foreigners. they hate them and talk to them rudely. and the degree offered is not given much importance in other countries.

about Russia, i have heard that WHO and UNESCO have rated Russian medical education as top class. among the top 100 universities in the world 30 are from Russia. but i've read many bad reviews too. that Russians are rude and cold in nature. professors are not nice. they take bribe to give you grades. and so on..........

i just want to know which university among the above mentioned is best. and any advice about Russia and Ukraine is welcomed and appreciated.
my aim is to settle in USA or Switzerland after graduation. so i have to clear licensing exams of these countries. so tell me which university teaches best so that students can pass MLEs easily. i will do my best and study hard but for that we need good teaching environment and nice helping teachers.

also, can anyone tell me what's the difference in MBBS and MD? which is better and have wide scope and knowledge???

please help me and all other who have same queries in their mind by sharing your thoughts and views.... thank you...

Please, be an adult
World ranking of medical schools does not exist. Also, there are no any ranks from WHO. It keeps a list of world medical schools which is to be completed upon requests of local governments. It does not concern to any kind of the medical school’s recognition.

There is an official ranking of Russian medical schools. Probably, Smolensk and Kazan are having positions you mentioned in this list (out of about 60 med schools in Russia). I am Russian, it is very pleasant to read 30 Rus medical schools are among top 100. But it is not true. Just because there is no such the ranking. There are numerous ratings of World Universities but no one concerns medical education only. If you know any, please, let me know, I will appreciate.

In terms of further clinical practice in US, Canada or... there is no sense which med school (Russian or Ukrain) you graduate from. Any way you would sit for local exam (like USMLE in the states). So, everything will depend on your knowledge. The only point you need to care in this way: you med school should be in the list of WHO. The same concern the program structure, Americans do not see any difference between MBBS and MD if you apply for residency there. In fact, the difference is in the program duration and curriculum structure: Russian/Ukrainian MD is longer than MBBS in India and Pakistan and includes more subjects and classes for the students.

hi Mikhail.
thanks a lot for blowing away silly assumptions from my head. as far as world ranking is concerned, i have read on many sites. just google it once "kazan state medical university world ranking" you'll get it. or read the website of Smolensk state medical academy. they have mentioned their about it. actually i am wrong about WHO. i once mailed to WHO inquiring about rankings. they said that the rankings are controlled by UNESCO. they allot specific positions to the university world wide after measuring its quality of teaching, syllabus, students strength, professors, social activities, research, collaboration with international bodies and many more stuffs.

what i actually wanted to ask is the syllabus and teaching quality. we cannot qualify any licensing examination unless we study hard. but for that we need good professors, good syllabus and high quality teaching methodology. without a good teacher and a high level teaching pattern a student cannot do anything on his own!

Russian education system is, no doubt, counted as one of the best in the world. but my only matter of concern is racial attacks! Moscow and St. Petersburg is world famous for its skinheads! i have seen a lot of videos on net of Russian neo-Nazi beating up foreigners anywhere on streets. in 2007 one Indian student was killed by a group of skinheads right in front of his dormitory in St. Petersburg.
personally, i love Russia and Russian people, culture and language a lot. but at the same time i am very scared to go there. i wish god give these nazi people little feelings and respect for foreigners. after all their country's economy is getting better because of foreign people's money.

anyways, please do tell me about the racism since you are a Russian you know it better. by the way in which University you are at present??
hope to hear from you soon....

mate am studying in ukraine in lugansk state medical university . please be sane and dont come here go to mauritius or bulgaria or latvia or even serbia if u may otherwise never got to russia never its a strict no no . language barrier , the way ppl think am in 5th year so u can think i am experienced . here u really need someone back at home in medical field plus u need to really rub ur *** off ..
lugansk is still okay and better than other . but russia is a no no ...

You wrote:

"plus u need to really rub ur *** off .."


Are you saying that the Ukraine program is tough and rigid ?


You also wrote: "here u really need someone back at home in medical field"

Do you mean that internship/practical experience is lacking in Ukraine?

Thanks,
Ron

Russian or Ukrainian-it really does not matter much.
The program is all the same.The only difference is that ukraine has the ECTS (European Credit Transfer System),and they imitate European educational system (when you earn credits,and sit exam after each module).
Russian unis are very corrupt.
Ukrainian universities are also pretty much corrupt.Especially O.O.Bogomolets,Luhansk etc.However,nobody will demand anything from you if you do your job,study hard etc.Again,there are plenty of opportunities to assist the operations,get on wards,and so on.But you will have to ask for it yourself,nobody will do it for you.
Ukraine is a bit warmer,cheaper and friendlier to foreigners.Just a bit.Another argument for Ukraine is that there are budget airlines flying from Kiev to European capitals,so you can visit London/Germany etc for a price of peanuts.This is impossible from Moscow.That makes unis of Kiev more attractive.

However,it does not matter which diploma you have when you sit USMLE,PLAB.All of Ukrainian universities except Luhanks are on the list of IMED,and most of the Russian ones.

If you want to study in a Ukrainian University where more Indian Students study, then you can go to LSMU. There should be at least 1000 students from India at any point of time. You may also consider Crimea State Medical University CSMU for good quality education and and stay. If you want to choose Kharkiv National Medical University, that will also be a good choice but less students from India comparatively. You may process your admissions to Ukrainian Medical Universities by filling up the enquiry form at the consolidated Ukrainian Medical Universities website affiliated with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine sites.google.com/site/umenetwork/course-admission-enquiry

Dude, there are plenty of other places that would be better for Indians to go to apart from Russia. There is no point in going through the whole list of attributes of studying in Russia, but it is well known. China as an option comes to mind, so do other places in Eastern Europe even. Anywhere but Russia.

(nurat4u is totally correct, and no, that is not a sockpuppet account of mine, despite the "4u").

For all practical purposes Ukraine is the best value for money option where students can study in a relatively safe environment and go about their education as well as they can. In China, they take sub-standard professors/doctors from India to teach the international students as they seldom speak English in China. Students can study well in Ukraine with European standards and simultaneously prepare for USMLE, PLAB etc. Indian students can come to India during holidays and work for 2 months in Indian Hospitals to get acclimatized to Indian conditions etc. Information on Ukrainian Universities can be had at umenetwork.webs.com

I received the following email today, however, I never applied to this institution or the Ministry of Education, but to another School there. What do you think?

------------------------------------------------------------------

Donetsk National Medical University
Tel: +38-095-7352869
Email: admission@dnmu.net


Dear Student,

We would like to inform you that your inquiry about admission was
forwarded to us by Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and we
are agree to accept you as a student in our University.

If you want to get admission in our University you are requested to
send your complete documents to by email and we shall send you
invitation letter in three working days.


ADMISSIONS ARE OPEN FOR SESSION 2011/2012 AND YOU CAN SEND US YOUR
DOCUMENTS FOR ADMISSION.


ABOUT UNIVERSITY

The Donetsk National Medical University (DNMU) is one of the largest
and best medical university of Ukraine. It was founded in 1930 as the
Satlino Medical Institute. At present, over 920 teachers work at the 77
departments of the Donetsk National Medical University (DNMU). Among
them,150 professors and 243 Associate Professors,academic title of
doctors and candidate of medical sciences are respectively 117 and 449
people.In the Donetsk National Medical University (DNMU) is a member of
National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and two corresponding members of
AMS of Ukraine,4 laureates of State Prize of Ukraine,18 distinguished
scientists and engineers,8 distinguished doctors,2 Honored worker of
Education of Ukraine,37 full members of international and departmental
academies science.


Donetsk National Medical University is well reputed in all over the
world and rated
as 15th rank by (WHO)World Health Organization.

Donetsk National Medical University (DNMU) is having the highest (the
4th) level of accreditation among all universities of Ukraine.