Getting one of today’s most in-demand professions — nursing — is available at St Petersburg University
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), almost 60% of the health workforce today, amounting to almost 28 million people, are nurses. In April 2020, by the start of the pandemic the global shortage of nurses and nursing staff was 6 million. This shortage is growing steadily.
According to the WHO, the nursing workforce is critical to achieving the goals of improving the quality of life and well-being of people around the world. This category of health care workers makes a valuable contribution to: universal health coverage; disease control; preparedness and rapid response to emergencies; safety; and integrated care for patients. It is nursing staff who are the crucial element in the health care system that ensures that no patient is left behind and that patient care is uninterrupted.
To become a nurse, you need a secondary vocational education. For this purpose, St Petersburg University has created a programme in Nursing. The future medics can study at St Petersburg University Medical College
It is not just a college, it is a department of the University with excellent teaching staff, a state-of-the-art simulation centre, a unique range of disciplines and a wide range of possibilities that we are actively using.
Anna Germer, Director of the Medical College of St Petersburg University
The programme is of interest to those who wish to become involved in medicine or professions that closely link with medicine. It is possible to enter the Medical College of the University on the basis of general secondary education, after 11th grade. ’No special knowledge is required for admission, but applicants’ interest in medicine and biology is always welcome. In addition, the applicant must have a sense of compassion, mercy and empathy,’ said Anna Germer.
The Nursing academic programme is based on key university principles: high level of general and fundamental training; advanced technologies; and traditions of domestic science and practical medicine. Students can acquire professional competencies in line with global trends. Already at the college, they are taught a full range of medical disciplines: anatomy and functions of the human body; genetics; the history of medicine in Russia; fundamentals of microbiology and immunology; intensive care; different areas of nursing; psychology; ethics; legal aspects of activity; and many other courses. Students have a free access to the library collections, museums and collections of the University, and resource centres of the St Petersburg University Research Park.
One of the main advantages of the programme is its practice-based approach to learning, and students are fully prepared to work after they graduate.
’A substantial part of the training takes place in the simulation centre, which has the latest equipment to simulate the work of medical staff. Before they start working with patients, our students receive several stages of training. Practical sessions and internships are carried out on simulators with instructors throughout the course. This makes it possible to generate different working situations for finding complex solutions’, explained Anna Germer, Director of the Medical College.
Another advantage is internships, where students gain professional experience faster than many of their peers. They are involved in diagnosing and treating patients under the supervision of experienced specialists in outpatient departments, hospitals and medical centres in St Petersburg.
Students have the opportunity to work in all departments to decide on their future path.
The main clinical base is the Pirogov Clinic of High Medical Technologies at St Petersburg University. In addition, the list includes: the Dzhanelidze Research Institute of Emergency Medicine; the Leningrad Regional Children’s Clinical Hospital with its neonatology department and perfectly equipped outpatient department; the Mariinsky City Hospital with its traditional approach to treating patients; and the Geriatric City Centre, including palliative care and care for elderly patients. Anna Germer stressed: ’These clinics cover the whole spectrum of practical skills of our students. We also plan to sign several more contracts with leading clinics of the city to develop non-degree programmes in nursing.’
Graduates receive a degree in secondary vocational education and acquire qualification of ’nurse’. The core competencies of graduates of the programme ’Nursing’ include the provision of pre-hospital care to patients. Graduates of St Petersburg University work in leading clinics in Russia, Europe and the USA.
The developers of the programme point out that the programme ‘Nursing’ may become the first step in mastering the medical profession. As part of the programme the future medics learn basic nursing subjects, fundamentals of healthcare, and later when they have learned the fundamentals, they can go to the next level of education. Anna Germer underlined that about 10% of the graduates of the programme decide to continue their education.
Please note that the language of events is Russian. For international applicants interested in taking part in competitions the University offers various additional educational programmes in Russian as a foreign language, including an additional educational programme “Preparatory Department (for foreign citizens)”.