Sechenov University’s international agenda includes the development of education programmes abroad. Our first foreign division is the Baku Branch, located in Baku, Azerbaijan. The decision to launch this Branch was made in 2015.

The President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev signed a decree on 15 May 2015, granting a building on the site of the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan to the Baku Branch of Sechenov University. Another document with the decision to create this Branch was signed by Veronika Skvortsova, the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation at the time.

15 September 2015 was when the Baku Branch of Sechenov University started teaching its first students — 100 in total. Today, the Branch uses ‘General Medicine’ education programme.

On 6 July 2021, the first graduation of students took place at the Baku Branch. While there were 87 graduates in total, 15 of them received a degree with honours.

At the graduation ceremony, Aziz Aliyev, Rector of the Baku Branch of Sechenov University, acknowledged the help of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva. Aziz Aliyev also thanked Petr Glybochko, Rector of Sechenov University, and Andrey Svistunov, First Vice Rector of Sechenov University, for their support from the very start.

Mikhail Murashko, Minister of Health of the Russian Federation, attended the ceremony and congratulated the graduates. On behalf of the Ministry he expressed gratitude to the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the Government of the Russian Federation, and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev for their contribution to the medical community in Russia and Azerbaijan.

‘It is very rewarding that almost 20% of the Baku Branch students graduated with honours. This is a high level of knowledge, and it is important that each of you — taking various paths in life — improves and multiplies this knowledge. And, hopefully, each of you will remember your teachers’, said Mikhail Murashko.

On behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Mikhail Murashko presented Aziz Aliyev, Rector of the Baku Branch, with a ceremonial Symbol of Knowledge — to commemorate the first graduation in 2021.

Teymur Musayev, First Deputy Minister of Health of Azerbaijan, said that the creation of the Baku Branch of Sechenov University in 2015 was an important milestone for the country’s medical education. He also pointed out that the training of students from Azerbaijan at universities in Moscow had a long history. ‘In the 1970s, our national leader Heydar Aliyev sent the first group of students to study at Moscow’s best universities. These graduates have now become the leaders in our most important medical and research centres’, said Teymur Musayev.

Petr Glybochko, Rector of Sechenov University, said that it took only three months to create outstanding facilities at the Baku Branch — including anatomy laboratories and libraries. While the decision to launch the Branch was made in May 2015, it already welcomed its first students on 15 September. ‘The opening of the Baku Branch of Sechenov University became possible because of the political will of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev. The First Vice President of Azerbaijan Mehriban Aliyeva, who is our graduate and Honorary President of Sechenov University, made a great contribution to the development of the University’, said Petr Glybochko.

The Rector of Sechenov University expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Health of Azerbaijan, and the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan.

In a speech addressed to the graduates, Petr Glybochko said: ‘You can be proud that you have received a diploma from a university which is one of the leaders in international rankings. During your six years of studying, Sechenov University has become a university of life sciences, a leader in digital biodesign and personalised healthcare. The Centre for Digital Biodesign and Personalised Healthcare will open by 2025, and I hope that you will get involved in the Centre’s programmes’.

At the end of the ceremony, Petr Glybochko thanked the University’s staff and the parents of the students. He also wished the graduates to set ambitious goals and work hard to bring people health and happiness.

During the visit to Baku, the Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Murashko visited the Simulation Centre at the Baku Branch of Sechenov University. Together with the Rector of Sechenov University Petr Glybochko he inspected the cutting-edge equipment which is used by the students of the Baku Branch to practice their skills.

The Simulation Centre has modern models for training the skills of emergency medical care, resuscitation, obstetrics, surgical interventions, and endoscopic operations.

Mikhail Murashko learnt about the work of the Accreditation Centre where specialists from Azerbaijan’s medical universities would be accredited. The Minister highly appreciated the Simulation Centre and expressed confidence that in future the Centre would maintain an outstanding level of training.