Thread: Russian and Ukrainian medical schools

I am a British 4th year medical student currently studing medicine at the St Petersburg State University, Russia and am posting these paragraphs on Russian and Ukrainian medical schools due to the large amount of questions that I am frequently asked, in relation to studying medicine; and the quality thereof in these particular countries.

Ukraine
The quality of medical education in Ukraine is NOT very good! It makes no difference whether you are studying in English or in Russian. This is largely due to the, current, very poor socio-economic conditions. Whilst the cost of medical school is rather cheap in comparison to other Russian, and certainly western medical schools, the level of clinical competence is alarmingly low. It is quiet common to see students handing their lecturers cash to pass exams, should they have failed. Whilst, politically, any graduate of a registered WHO medical school may write the entrance exams to any country, the reality is quiet different! The UK's GMC generaly consideres all medical graduates from Ukraine as quiet incompetant and well below the standards of medical graduates in the UK or any other western medical school for that matter. naturaly they will not openly state this on their website, it is however true non-the-less.

Russia
The above is quiet true in relation to some Russian medical schools as well. That being said, I have always advised students to try and select medical schools that are part of a University at large. Eg: Russian medical establishments consists of medical universities and faculty's of medicine that are part of a university. Corruption is, so it seems, common in medical universities. It would be worth your while to rather learn the Russian language and apply to one of the well known universities, such as Moscow University or St Petersburg University, the cost of both medical schools are well in the grasp of anyone considering Russia as a option, and as a medical student at St Petersburg University I can quiet confidently assure you that the standards and clinical skills are easily on a par with any medical school in the UK or western Europe. You will learn so much more, this is a country with an amazing history and spectacular culture and the Russian langauge I find to be quiet interesting indeed. The Russians are not at all cold, contrary to popular believe. Once they get to know you, you will have made a friend for life. They do not believe in false smiles nor do they pretend to like someone, they quiet simply do or they don't. I absolutly admire and respect this particluar quality.

In closeing what am I saying? Studying medicine in Russia is a very secure investment if your funds are limited. You will have no problem practising in europe or els were, so long as you pass the relevent exams. You will definatly be better off learning Russian and applying to a University that has a faculty of medicine as apposed to a medical university, because the university faculty's of medicine are considerably smaller, and therefor have obvious benefits.
I honestly would not advise you to consider any Ukrainian medical school as an option. I did a lot of research into this matter, and as a mature student; 33 years old, I could not afford to make any mistakes.

Hope this answers all your questions

Kind regards

Uh....wat are the criterias for getting into st petersburg state medical university IM mechinov.................admission requirements and stuff.pls reply asap

I am currently studying at Lviv national medical university if you have any question feel free to email me at martuletta @ yahoo . com

i still say study at medical university of Gdansk! : ) Lehrer Med be recognized within the eu

Originally Posted by Domini83

I am a British 4th year medical student currently studing medicine at the St Petersburg State University, Russia and am posting these paragraphs on Russian and Ukrainian medical schools due to the large amount of questions that I am frequently asked, in relation to studying medicine; and the quality thereof in these particular countries.

Ukraine
The quality of medical education in Ukraine is NOT very good! It makes no difference whether you are studying in English or in Russian. This is largely due to the, current, very poor socio-economic conditions. Whilst the cost of medical school is rather cheap in comparison to other Russian, and certainly western medical schools, the level of clinical competence is alarmingly low. It is quiet common to see students handing their lecturers cash to pass exams, should they have failed. Whilst, politically, any graduate of a registered WHO medical school may write the entrance exams to any country, the reality is quiet different! The UK's GMC generaly consideres all medical graduates from Ukraine as quiet incompetant and well below the standards of medical graduates in the UK or any other western medical school for that matter. naturaly they will not openly state this on their website, it is however true non-the-less.

Russia
The above is quiet true in relation to some Russian medical schools as well. That being said, I have always advised students to try and select medical schools that are part of a University at large. Eg: Russian medical establishments consists of medical universities and faculty's of medicine that are part of a university. Corruption is, so it seems, common in medical universities. It would be worth your while to rather learn the Russian language and apply to one of the well known universities, such as Moscow University or St Petersburg University, the cost of both medical schools are well in the grasp of anyone considering Russia as a option, and as a medical student at St Petersburg University I can quiet confidently assure you that the standards and clinical skills are easily on a par with any medical school in the UK or western Europe. You will learn so much more, this is a country with an amazing history and spectacular culture and the Russian langauge I find to be quiet interesting indeed. The Russians are not at all cold, contrary to popular believe. Once they get to know you, you will have made a friend for life. They do not believe in false smiles nor do they pretend to like someone, they quiet simply do or they don't. I absolutly admire and respect this particluar quality.

In closeing what am I saying? Studying medicine in Russia is a very secure investment if your funds are limited. You will have no problem practising in europe or els were, so long as you pass the relevent exams. You will definatly be better off learning Russian and applying to a University that has a faculty of medicine as apposed to a medical university, because the university faculty's of medicine are considerably smaller, and therefor have obvious benefits.
I honestly would not advise you to consider any Ukrainian medical school as an option. I did a lot of research into this matter, and as a mature student; 33 years old, I could not afford to make any mistakes.

Hope this answers all your questions

Kind regards

Hi,

I'm British and am also 33 years old and would really appreciate your help in answering some questions. I'm considering applying to St Petersburg but am concerned about the GMC requiring further info before agreeing to register. Are you studying in Russian medium? Obviously I want to learn Russian to communicate with patients and socialise etc but I think for myself it would be too hard for me to learn Russian to the academic level required for a medical degree. It would just be making something that is already challenging even more challenging. Does your university offer an English medium course?

-Do you know if the St Petersburg medical schools are correcting the problems that are causing their qualifications to be questioned by the GMC?
-Do you know of any reputable English medium courses in St Petersburg?
-Do you believe that Mechnikov and Pavlov are not very good/corrupt etc?
-Is there a named contact at your univesrity with whom I could communicate or did you apply via an agent?
-How is the style of teaching over there?
-Are lecturers approachable friendly etc or is it very old school/formal?
-How do you rate the clinical/patient contact side of things? How are the hospitals/doctors in general?
-Are there a lot of British students over there? Have you found it easy to make friends? How is life generally in St Petersburg?
-Have you been able to buy the day to day products that you would in UK? Is it quite a prosperous city or have you had to adapt a lot?
-How is the weather?
-Have you found that you get charged more for certain services than local Russians because you are foreign?
-Have you had any major problems?

Sorry for so many questions. Thanks for your help.

If I may add my 2cents...
-Are there a lot of British students over there? Have you found it easy to make friends? How is life generally in St Petersburg?
There are no so many British students in Russia and it is standard that a medical school enjoys maximum a couple of Brits among the students. Sometimes, there is no any one in all 6 years.
St Petersburg in terms of Architecture and climate is close to London, Edinbourgh or any other major UK city.

-Have you been able to buy the day to day products that you would in UK? Is it quite a prosperous city or have you had to adapt a lot?
You do not need to bring everything to Russia. All the products are available on-site and would be even less expensive

-How is the weather?
I guess you would find it familiar

-Have you found that you get charged more for certain services than local Russians because you are foreign?
It would be true for private taxi and sometimes local markets where the prices are not fixed or announced in advance.

Thanks Mikhail, Do you have any info on the uni side of things? How to apply etc? How much is a 1 bed apartment to rent near the uni?