These ambulances are staffed with a cardiologist, a feldsher and a driver. Typical EMS ambulances are the most common type of ambulance. These carry an emergency physician, a feldsher and a driver. The lowest level of ambulance carries only a feldsher and a driver. Residency training in emergency medicine does not exist in Russia.
Most emergency physicians have at most one year of general internship training.
They are primarily trained on the job and their scope of practice is limited to prehospital care. Physicians who practice emergency medicine are not highly regarded by the public. Still during the Soviet era, emergency physicians were relatively highly paid, second only to primary care physicians. This was intended to compensate emergency physicians for their lack of popularity and prestige. The role of feldshers in the Russian health care system is distinctly different from that of nurses.