Our medical university

Altai State Medical University was founded in 1954. There are 6 faculties for undergraduate students including the Faculty of General Medicine, the Pediatrics Faculty, The Pharmacy Faculty with the Distance Learning department, the Stomatology Faculty, the Nursing Faculty and the Health Care Faculty. Each faculty is headed by a dean. The dean’s office is the place where the students can get all the necessary information.

There is also a preparatory department for those who wish to pass their entrance exams successfully, the Faculty for Advanced Training of physicians and pharmacists, and post-graduate courses for medical graduates conducting research.

There are over 50 departments in various basic and clinical medical and related subjects, as well as in different interdisciplinary subjects, and the humanities.

The academic year is divided into two terms, each of 18 weeks duration. At the end of each term, there is an examination session when students have to pass a number of tests and exams.

In junior years, the curriculum contains basic medical and interdisciplinary subjects, as well as humanities. Medical students study Latin and a foreign language (English, German or French).

Senior students master clinical medical subjects, such as surgery, internal diseases, ophthalmology, obstetrics and gynecology, clinical pharmacology, pharmacognosy, the basics of accounting and management. They spend most of their time in teaching hospitals and clinics, as well as in pharmacies and laboratories.

The course of training in the General Medicine, Pediatrics and Health Care faculties is six years, while in the Stomatology and Pharmacy faculties it is five years. In the Distance Learning department, the course of training is five and a half years.

At the end of their fifth year, the students pass their final examinations, or finals, and receive their diplomas. After that, there is a further year of training as medical or pharmacy interns for those willing to obtain a certificate of Experience. Those who want to specialize in a definite field and to obtain promotion to a higher-ranking job must have a period of residency, which is two or three years, depending on their speciality. Many medical graduates enter post-graduate courses. They write and defend a thesis based on original research, and obtain the degree of a Candidate of Medical or Pharmaceutical science.

Our University has fairly good facilities for practising sport and recreation. There is a Students’ Club that arranges social activities and makes student life more fascinating.

There are both free and paid for forms of education in our University. The students who pass their exams with excellent grades receive grants, or stipends, that cover part of their expenses. Several top students receive scholarships. Non-resident students are offered hostel accommodation.

Our University ranks high among the higher medical educational establishments both in Siberia and in the whole of Russia. Our medical graduates work in different parts of the country and abroad. In 2004 our University will celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.

II.3. Ответьте на вопросы по содержанию текста.

1. When was your medical University founded?

2. How large is it? (How many faculties and departments are there in it?)

3. Which is the largest faculty in your university? the smallest one?

4. Which faculty and department are you in?

5. Which year are you in?

6. When will you graduate from the university if all goes well?

7. When will you take your examinations and tests?

8. What subjects do Pharmacy students study in junior years? in senior years?

9. Do you have to pay for your education? How much is the tuition fee in the day department? in the distance learning department?

10. Do the students of distance learning department receive grants or scholarships?

11. Is the period of internship obligatory for medical students? Who is the period of residency designed for?

12. What is the highest stage of graduate medical education?

13. What facilities, besides educational ones, are medical students offered?

14. Where are you planning to work upon graduation from the university?

15. What will our university celebrate in 2004?