The Smolensk State Medical Academy is a fully licensed higher school and is a centre of medical education and science. The SSMA is one of the leaders in doctors’ training, medical research, curative and preventive activities.

It trains medical and pharmaceutical specialists for various regions of Russia as well as for a number of overseas countries.

The main building of the Smolensk State Medical Academy

The Smolensk State Medical Academy includes:

• Centre for Preadmission Training
• Seven Faculties

Faculties of the Smolensk State Medical Academy are:

• General Medicine Faculty
• Pediatric Faculty
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty for Foreign Students Training
• Pharmaceutical Faculty
• Nursing Faculty
• Doctors’ Skills Upgrading Faculty

Research Institute of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy

The Smolensk State Medical Academy has 65 Departments located in the campus and on the basis of the leading health care units of the town.

450 teachers and professors work at the Academy including 92 Doctors of Medicine (MD) and 281 Candidates of Sciences (PhD).

Students are trained in General Medicine, Dentistry, Children’s Diseases, Pharmacology and Nursing. Particular attention is paid to the students’ training and organization of the training process. To improve the quality of the students’ training the Principle Methodical Council, the Department of Education and Management have been set up. The Smolensk State Medical academy is aimed at implementing up-to-date methods of training, more active application of modern information techniques in the educational and self-education process.

Teaching hospitals of the SSMA are provided with up-to date equipment to diagnose and treat various diseases. Active involvement of medical students into the process gives students a good chance to learn advanced medical techniques.

Humanitarian disciplines take an important part in the training of future medical specialists.

A group of humanitarian sciences includes:

• History
• Philosophy
• Ethics
• Psychology
• Law
• Sociology
• Culture

Library of the Academy: Reading Hall

The academy has got a well stocked library counting more than 550 thousand books to be one of the larges libraries of the town. It privies library service to more than 6640 readers.

3 departments operate in the library. It has 3 reading halls with the capacity of 200 seats.

Library stock is arranged according to scientific areas: Medicine, Applied Sciences (Chemistry, Physics, Biology) and Humanitarian (Arts) Sciences.

Annually the library is provided with more than 200 journals in Russian and foreign (English, German and French) languages.

The staff of the library has developed a special educational program aimed at teaching students and post-graduate students to be competent in the library facilities.

The departments of the SSMA publish students’ books and practical guides to be beneficially used in the educational process.

Extra educational services, trainings and courses are available at the Research and Education Centre of the SSMA.

Scientific and research activities of the Academy are carried out in fundamental and applied sciences by all the Departments of the SSMA as well as its 4 subdivisions:

• Research Institute of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (Director – prof. Roman Kozlov, MD)
• Central Research Laboratory (the Head, Senior Staff Scientist – Gennadiy Fedorov, PhD)
• Research Laboratory of Biophysics and Metabolic Therapy (the Head – prof. Vera Podoprigorova, MD)
• Research Laboratory of Ultrasound and Less Invasive Techniques (the Head – prof. Alexey Borsukov, MD).

For the last decades an interest of students for research activities has considerably increased. The training of highly qualified medical researchers is conducted through post-graduate course. The post-graduate training covers 35 primary medical areas.

The SSMA has Specialized Academic Committee:

• Mother and Childs’ Health (the Head of the Committee — prof. Alexander Ivanian, MD),
• Immunology, Immunological Morphology and Immunological Pathophysiology (the Head of the Committee — prof. Alexander Soloviev, MD),
• Physiology and Pathology of the Nervous System (the Head of the Committeel – prof. Jakov Yudelson, MD),
• Internal Diseases (the Head of the Committee – prof. Alexander Punin, MD),
• Surgery and Traumatology (the Head of the Committee – prof. Suren Kasumian MD),
• Dentistry (the Head of the Committee – prof. Alexander Zabelin, MD),
• Medical Ecology (the Head of the Committee – prof. Oleg Molotkov, MD),
• Physical and Chemical Medicine (the Head of the Committee – prof. Vera Podoprigorova, MD).

PhD and Doctor of Medicine Dissertations are defended in 8 scientific areas.

• 14.00.09 — Pediatrics;
• 14.00.25 — Pharmcaology, Clinical Pharmacology
• 14.00.05 — Internal Medicine
• 14.00.00 — Dentistry
• 14.00.00 — Surgery
• 14.00.01 — Obstetrics and Gynecology
• 14.00.00 — Clinical Immunology and Allergy

In 2007-2008 2 Doctor of Medicine Councils received the license of the Ministry

• Д 208.097.01 (the Head of the Council – prof. Vladimir Pleshkov, MD
• Д 208.097.02 (the Head of the Councils – prof. Vasiliy Novikov, MD)

Now a new Doctor of Medicine Council is planning to be set up in the SSMA.

Primary directions of the research activity:

• Epidemiological, molecular and genetic monitoring of antibiotic resistance and upgrading of chemotherapy methods (the Head of the Research – prof, Roman Kozlov, MD);
• Plasma scalpel in Surgery (the Head of the Research – prof. Vladimir Pleshkov, MD);
• Cardiovascular Diseases: new methods of diagnostics and treatment (the Head of the Research – prof. Viktor Miliagin, Md);
• Blood and Tissue Hydration in Various Diseases and Influence of External Factors (the Head of the Research – prof. Nikolay Faraschuk, MD);
• Mini Invasive Techniques in Abdominal Surgery. Endovideo Surgery (the Heads of the Research – prof. Suren Kasumian, MD and prof. Alexey Borsukov, MD);
• Child’s Health: development of new methods of diagnostics, treatment and prevention (the Heads of the Research – prof. Liudmila Kozlova, MD, prof. Tatyana Avdeeva, MD, the Head of the Central Research Laboratory – Gennady Feodorov, PhD)
• Biophysical and metabolic techniques in oxidative disturbance correction (the Head of the Research – prof. Vera Podoprigorova, MD);
• Communication systems as morphological and genetic significant structures in general morbidities and tumor development (the Head of the Research - prof. Alexander Dorosevich, MD)
• Diagnostics, treatment and prevention of the most common dental diseases (the Head of the Research – prof. Alexander Zabelin MD, prof. Leonid Tsepov MD)
• Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease and Asthma. Pharmacological and epidemiological algorithms of treatment (the head of the Research - prof. Alexander Punin, MD)
• Obstetrics, Gynecology and Prenatal Medicine (the head of the Research – prof. Alexander Ivanian, MD, prof. Nukolay Nikiforovsky, MD)

Three scientific journal are regularly published in the SSMA as well as two Internet-journals:

• «Smolensk State Medical Academy Vestnik»
• «Clinical microbiology and chemotherapy»
• «Medical news of regions»

Internet-journals:

• «Mathematic Morphology»
• «Headache»

Laboratory of molecular diagnostic of IAC

The Smolensk State medical Academy actively participates in International, Federal and Regional Projects and Programmes. International Conferences and Meetings are organized in the SSMA. Many SSMA professors are the members of International Associations and Research Groups.

The SSMA is expanding its International Cooperation with medical research laboratories and Universities of Belarus, the Ukraine, USA, Japan, Germany, Poland, Italy, France.

In 2004 a very significant scientific discovery made by prof. Nikolay Faraschuk, MD was licensed in the SSMA. The discovery deals with «The pattern of hydration polymer level change in animal blood during the period of their adaptation to external factors»

80 patents for invention and 2 new medical techniques were licensed by the research staff in 2004-2008. During the period 80 books, monographs and practical guides were publishes.

The SSMA is proud of its Students’ Scientific Society which regularly conducts annual Scientific Conferences.

In 2008 certain reorganization was made in the SSMA resulted in setting up some new Departments:

• Education and General Management Department
• Department of Didactics
• Quality Management Department

The Gym of the foreign students' hostel

The Academy is strongly aimed at development of the TQM (System of Total Quality Management).

In the SSMA there are all necessary facilities for creating harmonious individuality of students. This aim is attained by the work of students’ clubs, participation in students’ amateur performances and going in for sports. There are 2 big sport-halls for competition and training, shooting gallery, a swimming pool with a sauna bath and a stadium in a campus.

SSMA is one of the few higher medical schools in Russia having its own students’ health centre with good facilities for treatment and prevention of diseases. SSMA has residency accommodation including 5 hostels (4 hostels for medical students and one for trainee doctors of the Faculty for Advanced Training.