‘Perhaps, more people will leave the country than today or yesterday, but…’
The Kazan State Medical University will be able to prepare its foreign students according to the standards of Canada and the USA, and our students will see the best Western methods of working and studying. A correspondent of Realnoe Vremya visited the procedure of signing of agreements on collaboration between the Kazan State Medical University and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and found out the benefit of this collaboration for local students, the beginning of the union between colleges, and whether Tatarstan is ready to motivate its specialists in order to cease the brain drain.
It all began with collaboration with Stanford and Yale
On 22 January, KSMU signed an agreement on collaboration with physicians and surgeons of Canada. According to Alexey Sozinov, the rector of the Kazan Medical University, this event was preceded by a long-term collaboration of KSMU with Yale School of Medicine (USA) and participation in a programme called Global Medicine.
'Every year some students go abroad for practice by means of the university. They study together with the students of Stanford and Yale. I would like to emphasize that our students look quite good among them,' said Sozinov today on the press conference dedicated to the signing of the agreement.
As Alexey Sozinov told, the Royal College is not an educational organization. It represents interests of all medical community of Canada, sets educational standards, procedures for obtaining a licence that allows the doctors to work in Canada. The collaboration between KSMU and the Royal College has been the second step in the preparation of KSMU for the accreditation by the Royal College according to the professional standards of Canada. Once this accreditation is obtained, the Kazan State Medical University will able to teach the graduate students of the medical schools of Canada and the USA and prepare students to work in the north American clinics.
'We have been collaborating for about a year. We designated the administrators, professors of the university who will work and prepared the basic resource materials. The first pilot group of residents has been formed; it includes four people, all of them are our graduate students: two people from Pakistan, one person from India, and one representative of the USA,' said Sozinov.
As Adel Vafin, the Minister of Health of the Republic of Tatarstan, informed, the opening of the simulation centre will enable a fully-fledged organization of the work within the scope of the agreement that was signed in February. At present it is fully equipped with all necessary equipment, which is, by the way, was produced in Tatarstan.
Our students will get knowledge according to the Canadian standards but no the diplomas
During the event, the financing sources of the project were made public. According to Alexey Sozinov, Ramin Ahmadi, the Vice President, Western Connecticut Health Network (USA), acts as investor. The foreign investor is a frequent visitor of Tatarstan. Apart from the collaboration with KSMU, he pays attention to the work with the local medical centres. For instance, last year Ahmadi visited the Interregional Clinical Diagnostic Centre. The guest was surprised with our doctors and equipment.
The rector of KSMU noted that this agreement is an entrance to the market, adoption of new technologies and methods and attraction of new professors and students.
'This is why there will be some spending, but it won't be big because the financing of those four people, who study according to the project, including the professors' salary, is fully provided by the north American party,' Sozinov specified.
The speaker also answered the key question that was burning the minds of the journalists who came to the event: what advantage does this agreement have for our students?
'The students who are studying side by side, undoubtedly, will be involved in this work, but in an undocumented format. We don't promise anybody any documents that would create a working place in Canada or USA. The new methods will be implemented in the work in groups where the Russians and foreigners study together. This project doesn't create a window on America for our specialists – they would study and go there. We are factually speaking about the fact that foreign students will be able to study at KSMU for their further career in the USA and Canada but together with Russian students. Our students will get knowledge and skills according to Canadian standards but not the diplomas,' Sozinov explained.
'Perhaps, more people will leave the country that it was earlier. Our task is to level up the general standard'
During his speech, the Minister of Health of Tatarstan mentioned the Strategy 2030 whose aim is to make Tatarstan a 'magnet for the best workers'. Realnoe Vremya's correspondent asked a logical question concerning the reconsideration of the motivational policy of doctors for the attraction of the best workers and prevention of brain drain. The Minister said that 'they were trying to make doctors' labour be well paid'.
'The motivation is also very important as well as self-realization. A series of matters in this field were solved, and Rustam Minnikhanov supported them. Our level of the technological capacity in medicine is already very high, and the financial incentives play a major role too, but it depends on the conditions of the development of the economy,' told Vafin.
Sozinov also commented the brain drain.
'Perhaps, more people will leave the country than today or yesterday. But our common goal is to level up the general standard and to have well prepared a simple doctor,' the rector of KSMU resumed.