Training of Military Medics at Rīga Medical Institute for the Needs of the Soviet Army 1950–1990

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Oral presentation

Description

Materials in the collection of the Rīga Stradiņš University (RSU) Museum have few evidences of the Military Department that once existed. Therefore, in 2021–2022, museum employees interviewed graduates and collected materials of the former Rīga Medical Institute (RMI; the name of RSU from 1950 to 1990). . This paper employs methods of historical research and comparison.. Military training or preparation for military medicine was mandatory for all RMI students. This training was organised by the Military Department, which operated at the higher education institution from 1950 to 1992, when it ceased to exist. The focus of the curriculum was on moral political upbringing, professional preparedness and psychological resilience in combat situations. The basic cycle included general military training, medical service organisation and tactics in combat conditions, military toxicology and protection from weapons of mass destruction, as well as civil defence medical service organisation. Male students, whose health condition was adequate, were required to participate in practical military training at an army training ground. The males, who graduated the RMI Faculty of Medical Treatment were awarded the rank of a lieutenant in the Soviet Army (SA) and became reservist officers for the SA medical service. Consequently, they automatically acquired a second speciality, the army doctor. They were exempt from the compulsory military service in the SA, where all men in the USSR had to serve for at least two years. To provide the SA with a medical service, RMI admitted more men than women to the Faculty of Medical Treatment, and they often had lower results on admission exams.. The collected evidences and the newly obtained materials and their research have reconfirmed that the main feature of the higher medical education system in the Soviet Union was its militarisation.
Period29 Mar 2023
Event titleRSU International Research Conference 2023: Knowledge for Use in Practice
Event typeConference
OrganiserRīga Stradiņš University
LocationRiga, LatviaShow on map
Degree of RecognitionInternational

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