An online meeting of Russia’s Council of Rectors of Medical and Pharmaceutical Higher Education Institutions took place on 1 July 2021. The event was attended by Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Health of the Russian Federation.

The Council of Rectors focused on three main issues — epidemiological situation during the student admission campaign, preparation for the upcoming academic year, and COVID-19 vaccination at medical universities.

Admission campaign 2021

‘Sechenov University has changed its guidelines for the admission committee and is implementing innovations according to the new procedure of university admission’, said Petr Glybochko, Rector of Sechenov University and Chairman of the Council of Rectors of Medical and Pharmaceutical Higher Education Institutions. ‘Prospective students may submit their applications online using the federal platform GosUslugi or send the documents by post. In addition, the new admission committee guidelines provide more options for the University and the applicants. For example, the number of state-funded places at Sechenov University has increased by 30% this year. The number of targeted admission places has also increased. Based on the needs of the education market, we have changed the number of our study programmes — now the applicants at Sechenov University can choose between six programmes instead of three available the year before’.

Mode of study in the upcoming academic year

When speaking about the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, Petr Glybochko stated that the academic year would commence as usual — on 1 September. ‘The persisting risk of the coronavirus infection is likely to result in a “mixed” mode of study. In accordance with the recommendations of the Ministry of Health and the Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing (Rospotrebnadzor), lectures are to be delivered primarily online, while laboratory and practical classes should be organised so that a very limited number of students attend at the same time. Senior students, clinical residents, and postgraduate students will continue to follow their individual programmes and receive practical training at medical organisations’.

‘At the same time, all study programmes will be fully performed. We are planning to use the inter-university platform of medical e-learning Sechenov.Online to deliver online classes. More than 1,500 users visit this website every day. We have also launched the national platform of medical e-learning Sechenov.Pro. Our education courses are available on the international online platforms Coursera, Stepik, and Universarium’, said Petr Glybochko.

COVID-19 vaccination

The Council of Rectors paid special attention to COVID-19 vaccination. Sechenov University started its vaccination campaign in September 2020 and has since received 5,200 doses of Sputnik V vaccine. The University has five vaccination sites at the clinical centres and five more at the dormitories.

‘We have already vaccinated 3,897 people, of which 1,912 are the employees of our clinical centre, 1,564 — students, 237 — teaching staff, and 264 — other employees’, said Petr Glybochko. ‘According to the requirement issued by Sergey Sobyanin, Mayor of Moscow, we expect to have more than 60% of our employees vaccinated by 15 July’.

Petr Glybochko urged the rectors of other medical schools to get fully involved in the COVID-19 vaccination campaign. He expressed confidence that medical universities could — and should — serve as a link for the medical community and play a leading role in promoting the vaccination.

‘The clinics of Sechenov University and other medical schools have been working with COVID-19 from the very first days of the pandemic. We have gained a lot of experience in treating the disease and combating its consequences. Our scientific background and reputation in medicine should help convey the importance of vaccination’, said Petr Glybochko, Rector of Sechenov University.