Education without Borders

VSMU is the first medical university of the Republic of Belarus, which has its own preparatory department abroad. The idea of ​​preparatory departments or international educational centers of the university started up long ago, and came from the necessity of internationalization of medical education. At preparatory department students are trained according to the guidelines and programs of the university by qualified specialists of a foreign center-partner. Training lasts an academic year, with compulsory formative assessment. The members of the university admission committee conduct end-of-course assessment directly at the educational center. The results of assessment are equal to the results of entrance examinations and allow applicants to participate in the competition for admission to the Vitebsk State Medical University.

Creating these kind of international educational centers makes the process of preparation for entering and the process of entering the university itself as accessible and comfortable for the applicant as possible. The advantages are obvious: traditionally a potential student should travel a long way to a foreign country for the entrance exams, while being in a constant state of stress, and in case of failure within a short period of time return home. In the case of an international educational center, a student arrives in Belarus directly for enrollment and training for 1 year at university.

The first educational center of VSMU was opened in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2015 on the base of IMC (International medical campus), which is the official representative of the university. During an academic year the candidates from Sri Lanka were trained in principle subjects – chemistry and biology in accordance with the programs of the university and English as well.

In April 2016 His Excellence Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Belarus in the Republic of India, DSR Sri Lanka, People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Republic of Nepal Mr.Vitaly A. Prima visited IMC – educational center of VSMU in Sri Lanka.

Mr.Vitaly A. Prima visited the campus, acquainted with the process of training, met the staff. As a result of visiting the educational center of Vitebsk State Medical University has been praised by the Ambassador.

At the beginning of August 2016 an official delegation of VSMU came to SDR Sri Lanka. There were the head of the Department of International Affairs of VSMU Candidate of Medical Sciences M.M.Savchuk, the head of the Chair of General, Physical and Colloid Chemistry professor Z.S.Kuntsevich, the head of the Chair of Medical Biology and General Genetics professor V.Ya.Bekish. The aim of the visit was inspection of the campus and giving examinations at the students of preparatory course.

The campus is located in a reconditioned modern building near the stops of public transport. All the rooms are equipped with up-to-date facilities, air comfort system. There are multimedia systems in every classroom, necessary materials for training (books, tables, video and audio materials). There is a chemical laboratory, a computer classroom, and place for rest and meals in the campus.

Besides acquaintance with material base of the campus, the members of the delegation inspected the process of training of preparatory course students and its correspondence to the programs of VSMU. The results of inspection show that the campus corresponds the requirements of the university and may continue to be used for educational programs.

The teachers from VSMU gave exams at the students of preparatory course and candidates for the 1st course of VSMU. The examination was conducted in the form of online testing in subjects of chemistry and biology

It should be noted that the examination took place without any technical and organizational problems. After the tests oral interview in English took place. Besides the representatives of VSMU IMC staff were on the English examination committee. 40 students passed the entrance exams.

After the exams there was a function devoted to the first graduation of preparatory department students and the presentation of Graduate Certificates.

Thus, a one-year experience of the preparatory department of Vitebsk State Medical University in Sri Lanka has shown that this type of service is certainly promising and sought-after area of work, which definitely need to be continued opening similar centers in countries where Belarusian medical education is a demand. This will, in turn, strengthen the University ranking in the international educational space and increase the attractiveness of Vitebsk State Medical University for foreign students.