Formation of the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Education (1930–1938)

Abstract

This article presents the history of the formation of the State Central Institute for Advanced Medical Education, the present-day Russian Medical Academy of Continuing Professional Education at the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (Moscow). This study involved documents found in the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation. The problem statement is the first of is kind in Russian historiography. The paper contains a detailed description of the early years of the Central Institute for Advanced Medical Education (1930–1938). It also outlines the main directions of the Institute activity during the period in question, e.g. correspondence courses for doctors from remote regions. The authors investigated the personnel issue in the context of historical reconstruction. They demonstrated the key challenges that the institution had to face and address in its early days. The analysis proved that the Institute provided invaluable experience in training professional medical personnel in the shortest time possible under difficult historical conditions.