# First Moscow State Medical University

I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (officially First Moscow State Medical University, informally Sechenov University) was originally the Medical School of Moscow State University, is the Russia National Medical Center (Affiliated to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation); Sechenov University ranks 1st in Russia and Eastern Europe in medical Ranking.
I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University is the first and the best medical University in Russia, most of the Russian medical scientists graduated from the First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University). I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University cooperates with world-class universities such as Johns Hopkins University, Duke University, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of Cambridge, Technical University of Munich, Hannover Medical School, Charité – Berlin University Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, University of Gothenburg, Erasmus University, and Peking Union Medical College.
The entrance exam of the First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) is extremely strict, with an admission rate of only 2.7% and a graduation rate of only 57.1%. Its academic qualifications are recognized by developed regions such as the United States and Europe.
In 2020,First Moscow State Medical University (Sechenov University) successfully completes trials of world's first COVID-19 vaccine.

## History

In 1755, Moscow State University was officially established and held an opening ceremony.
In 1758, Queen Elizabeth of Russia officially ordered the establishment of the Medical College of Moscow University, which was the first medical college in Russia and is also considered the beginning of the First Moscow State Medical University of Sechenov.
On August 13, 1758, Johann Christian Kerstens, a professor of medicine from Germany, officially gave lectures.
In 1791, Moscow University obtained the right to confer doctoral degrees in medicine, becoming the first university in Russia to obtain the right to confer doctoral degrees in medicine.
In 1897, at the 12th International Physician Conference held in Moscow, participants from various countries highly praised the medical level of the Medical College of Moscow State University, and the world-renowned German pathologist R. Virchow also said: "Learn from the Russians!"
In 1917, after the October Revolution, the Moscow Imperial University was officially renamed the current Moscow State University, and the Medical College under the university was also renamed the Medical College of Moscow State University.
In 1930, the Soviet Union reformed higher education, and the Medical School of Moscow State University was completely independent and became a research-oriented medical university -First Moscow State Medical School.
In 1953, Academician Herzen founded the largest clinical surgical hospital in the history of Russian surgery - the surgical hospital directly under the First Moscow State Medical School.
In 1955, the independent First Moscow State Medical School was officially named Sechenov in memory of Academician Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov, the "Father of Russian Physiology".
With the direct participation of professors of First Moscow State Medical School, the Soviet Academy of Medical Sciences (now the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences) was established in December 1944. The first president was N.N. Burdenko (Head of the Department of Surgery of First Moscow State Medical School), and other professors of First Moscow State Medical School served as vice presidents and other positions.
During the Soviet period, First Moscow State Medical School was already the oldest and largest medical center in Russia.
In 2010, the school was officially renamed I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University.

## Clinical Center and Research Center

The Clinical Center of I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University was founded in 1897. It is the highest national medical center in Russia and one of the largest clinical centers in Europe. Its multidisciplinary medical level ranks first in Russia and Eastern Europe and among the best in the world. The Clinical Center of I.M. Sechenov University includes 20 large affiliated hospitals, 10 university specialty clinics, and 197 medical practice bases.
As of 2024, the Clinical Center of Sechenov University has a total of 8,180 employees, most of whom have a doctorate in medicine. It has more than 500,000 inpatients and outpatients each year, and provides high-quality, high-tech medical services in more than 40 specialties. More than 50% of surgical operations are high-tech, including the extensive use of Da Vinci surgical robot technology. It has extremely rich clinical teaching experience, providing world-class clinical internship opportunities for medical students of the school and cultivating high-level clinical medical talents.
As of 2023, the school has a total of more than 2,000 medical experts, 543 professors, many Nobel Prize winners, 10 members of the American Academy of Sciences, 47 members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, more than 70 honorary scientists of the Russian Federation, and more than 100 winners of the Russian National Award, Presidential Award and Government Award.
The main goal of Sechenov University's digital transformation policy by 2030 is the comprehensive transformation of education, research and clinical processes, and the transformation to a world-class research-based medical university model.
I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University (formerly Moscow State University Medical School) is a world-class research university with comprehensive strength ranking among the top 3% in the world. It has world-class medical talent resources, strong scientific research and teaching capabilities, and has carried out all-round and multi-faceted international cooperation with many famous medical universities and medical research companies in the world, including more than 150 leading foreign universities and research centers in 48 countries [60], such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, China, Japan, Norway, South Korea, etc.
The international scientific research volume of the Research Center of I.M. Sechenov University is in the leading position among medical universities in the world. As of February 2024, the Research Center of I.M. Sechenov University has published 26,233 scientific papers and received 205,818 citations. The research covers a range of fields, including medicine, biology, chemistry, pathology, genetics, biochemistry, psychology, surgery, computer science and engineering.
I.M. Sechenov University Clinical Hospital No. 1
I.M. Sechenov University Clinical Hospital No. 2
I.M. Sechenov University Clinical Hospital No. 3
I.M. Sechenov University Clinical Hospital No. 4
I.M. Sechenov University Clinical Hospital No. 5
I.M. Sechenov University Women and Children's Hospital (Mother and Child Center)
I.M. Sechenov University Stomatological Hospital (Dental Center)
I.M. Sechenov University Cardiovascular Hospital (Cardiovascular Center)
Russian Federation Neurosurgery Center
Russian National Surgical Scientific Center (named after Academician B.V. Petrovsky)
Russian National Medical Research Center for Urology
Russian National Medical Research Center for Pulmonary Diseases
Russian National Medical Research Center for Anesthesia and Resuscitation
Russian National Medical Research Center for Organ Transplantation and Artificial Organs
Russian National Comprehensive Oncology and Cancer Center
Russian National Ophthalmology Center
Russian National Medical Research Center for Rehabilitation and Convalescent Medicine
Russian International Medical Center

## Faculties

* Faculty of Medicine
* Faculty of Pharmacy
* Faculty of Pediatrics
* Faculty of Preventive Medicine
* Faculty of Dentistry
* Faculty of Postgraduate Professional Training of Physicians
* Preparatory Department for International Applicants
* Institute of Professional Education
* Center of Master's Programs

## Notable alumni

* Alexei Ivanovich Abrikosov — pathologist and a member of the Soviet Academy of Sciences
* Arkady Arkanov - writer, doctor, playwright and stand-up comedian
* Oleg Atkov — cardiologist and astronaut
* Evgeni Babsky — physiologist and member of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences
* Jonas Basanavičius — Lithuanian physician, activist and proponent of the Lithuanian National Revival
* Leo Bokeria — cardiac surgeon; academician; recipient of Lenin Prize, USSR State Prize and Russian State Prize
* Sergey Botkin — clinician, therapist, activist and one of the founders of modern Russian medical science and education
* Anton Chekhov — physician, playwright, and short-story writer
* Mikhail Chumakov — microbiologist and virologist; helped develop the Polio vaccine and organise its mass production
* Mikhail Davydov — medical scientist, oncologist, surgeon; president of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences; recipient of State Prize in Science and Technology
* Grigori Gorin (Grigori Israilevich Ofshtein) - playwright and writer
* Sergei Korsakoff — neuropsychiatrist; europsychiatrist of the 19th century, known for his studies on the effects of alcoholism on the nervous system (Korsakoff syndrome) and introduction of the concept of paranoia
* Anatoly Kudryavitsky — Russian-Irish novelist and poet
* Shabsay Moshkovsky — physician, infectious disease specialist, epidemiologist
* Alexander Podrabinek - dissident, journalist, and commentator
* Vladimir Serbsky — psychiatrist and one of the founders of forensic psychiatry in Russia; center of forensic psychiatry, Serbsky Center, was named after him
* Pyotr Gannushkin — psychiatrist that developed one of the first theories of psychopathies (today known as personality disorders)
* Nikolay Pirogov — scientist, medical doctor, inventor, pedagogue and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; considered to be the founder of field surgery and was one of the first surgeons in Europe to use ether as an anaesthetic
* Ivan Sechenov — neurophysiologist; Moscow Medical Academy and Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry were named after him
* Nikolay Sklifosovsky — surgeon, scientist and teacher
* Maxim Konchalovsky — clinician; figure in Russian internal medicine during first half of the 20th century
* Alexander Myasnikov — physician, cardiologist, academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences
* Dimitri Venediktov — Deputy Health Minister of the USSR
* Valentin Pokrovsky — epidemiologist; president of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and director of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology
* Valery Shumakov — surgeon and transplantologist; a pioneer of artificial organ surgery; recipient of Russian state's Order of Saint Andrew
* Renat Akchurin — cardiac surgeon; academician
* Rafiq Tağı — Azerbaijani short-story writer and journalist, graduated in cardiology
* Amiran Revishvili — Georgian cardiac surgeon and electrophysiologist, president of Pan-Russian Scientific Society of Clinical Electrophysiology, Arrhythmology and Cardiac Pacing
* Boris Yegorov — physician-astronaut who became the first physician to make a space flight