Department of Public Health

History of the department

History of the department: from the beginning till nowadays

History of the formation of social medicine in Ukraine began in the medical faculty of Kyiv St. Volodymyr University with the creation of the department of state medicine in 1846 where the basis of public health and organization of health care were studied.

Since 1871 in the first department of hygiene, medical police, medical geography and statistics students studied medical and social principles and statistics. Head of the department professor Subbotin V.A. gave much attention to public medicine, epidemiology, medical statistics, sanitary topography.

In 1893 professor Orlov V.D. continued this activity. A private associate professor’s course in epidemiology and sanitary statistics was opened at the department.

Social medicine as an independent discipline in those years was not included in the curriculum. It was a part of a course in epidemiology and health statistics.

The course in the history of medicine was started in the first days of the organization of the medical faculty of Kyiv St. Volodymyr University. Initially, the course was called «Encyclopedia and Methodology of Medicine». The first lecture on the history of medicine was read by Professor V. Karavaev on the 12th (24th) of September 1841.

In 1903 the head of the sanitary bureau of the Kyiv City Administration Doctor of Medicine Korchak-Chepurkivsky O.V. became a private associate professor of epidemiology and sanitary statistics. He was known for his medico-social and statistical studies. He began a new medico-social course of lectures at the medical faculty of the Kyiv University immediately. He was the first who started teaching social medicine in Ukraine.

Former sanitary doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Professor Korchak-Chepurkivsky O.V. in 1918 was a director of the sanitary department in the Ministry of Public Health and Welfare, and then the second minister of health for short period of time in the Ukrainian Republic (1919). He was one of the initiators of the establishment in 1917 at the Ukrainian State University of the Medical Faculty with Ukrainian teaching and its first dean.

In the early Soviet years, social medicine was taught at the department of general and social hygiene. The lectures were given in Ukrainian by Professor Korchak-Chepurkivsky O.V., in Russian by Professor Dobrovolsky K.E. At the end of 1922, Ukrainian and Russian professors were gathered and the department which was headed by O. Korchak-Chepurkivsky. In March 1921 he was elected as Academician of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, where in the same year he organized and headed the Department of Public Health. The main work of this department focused on the development of Ukrainian medical terminology.

Then independent departments of social hygiene were established in 1923 (Kharkiv, Odesa). At the Kyiv Medical Institute on December 7, 1923, Kagan S.S. was assigned the duties of the Head of the Department of Social Hygiene. The approval of this decision was made on January 18, 1924. This date in the report on the activity of the department for the first year of its work was determined by the date of the legal establishment of the department.

The first employees of the Department of Social Hygiene of the Kyiv Medical Institute were doctors Gliko O.V., Vlaykov G.F., Getsov G.B., Radchenko S.I.

In the first years after creation in the department problems associated with the development of public health organizations in Ukraine including maternity and childhood health care sanitation were studied.

In 1929 Professor Kagan S.S. was transferred to the Dnepropetrovsk Medical Institute and became a rector and head of the department of social hygiene. He published a manual on social hygiene for students «Essays in social hygiene». S.I. Radchenko became the head of the department at Kyiv Medical Institute until 1934.

In 1941, the Department of Social Hygiene was renamed in the Department of Health Care Organization which identified significant changes in its program and took the leading place in the problems of theory and practice of health care.

During the Second World War, the work of the department was aimed at strengthening the health service of the rear, improving the health care of workers and children.

Subsequently, the department conducted research on the problems of organization and planning of medical care for different people, the morbidity of different groups of the population of Ukraine, improvement of medical and preventive care, studied the sanitary consequences of the war in Ukraine, developed the first post-war plan of health care development.

The Department of Social Hygiene has traditionally taught the history of medicine, but its scope has gradually diminished, and in the early 1940s some issues of the history of medicine have actually been raised.

In 1948, an independent department of medical history was created, but in 1959 it was reunited with the department of health care organization.

In 1952 the duties of the head of the department were temporarily fulfilled by Associate Professor Kushnir Yu.A. In August 1953 Associate Professor Pigida I.P. became the head of the department, in 1961 – Professor Khorosh I.D.

The main areas of research were the study of the state of health and organization of dispensary services for workers of industrial enterprises, the prevalence of the diseases among children and adults in Ukraine, the organization of health care of the rural population, problems of medical history.

Since 1966 the department has been renamed into the department of social hygiene and health organization.

Since 1968, the department participates in the postgraduate teaching of the staff of social medicine and health care educational medical institutions. On the basis of the department more than 500 teachers, including 68 heads of the departments and professors, 154 associate professors and 216 assistants were studied.

In 1969, a comprehensive sample study of the state of health of the population was initiated in connection with the census in 1970. This basic study identified the scientific activity of the department for that time.

In 1972 the department was headed by Professor Grando O.A. who with colleagues continued research devoted to the problems of the organization of various types of specialized medical care, the establishment of rehabilitation service in the conditions of the city polyclinic, the improvement of ambulatory-polyclinic and inpatient care.

In the 1980-s, the department staff continued to work on improving outpatient care, organizing general medical examination of the population. Among the topics of this period are the issues of strengthening the organization and management of medical and preventive care for workers of large industrial enterprises using automatic control systems (ACS).

One of the permanent directions of the research work of the department was the study of the organization of specialized medical care to different population groups.

As a result of the study of outpatient and inpatient care for patients with gastroenterological diseases, organizational measures aimed at improving the quality and effectiveness of specialized medical care were scientifically substantiated, developed, put into practice.

Study of the medical and social patterns of burn injury was performed, and a model of the organization of health care for burn patients was proposed for implementation.

One of the problems explored at the department under the direction of Professor Grando O.A. was the history of medicine and health care. Scientific research on this issue highlights the stages in the development of health care and higher medical education in Ukraine. The results of these studies are reflected in the exposition in the Museum of Medicine.

On October 29, 1982, the Museum of Medicine of the Ukrainian SSR was opened, which in 1990 was renamed the Central Museum of Medicine of the USSR. It was preceded by years of research and collection and study of historical sources, funds of many state archives, museums and scientific libraries. Thousands of exhibits have been collected, and scientific and methodological foundations of exposition construction have been developed. The founder of the museum and its director was Doctor of Medical Sciences, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology, Professor Grando O.A. (1919–2004).

According to the Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 314 of June 22, 1971, at the Department of Social Medicine and Health Organization training courses for the heads of health authorities and institutions were organized. During 1971-1982, 1435 health care managers from all regions of Ukraine were studied.

Based on these courses, an independent department of social hygiene and health organization was organized on December 22, 1982 (nowadays – Department of Health Management, Professor Parii V.D.).

In 1990-January 2004 the Department was headed by the corresponding member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Honored Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology, Professor Voronenko Yu.V. During this period the Department participated in international projects on the health of women and children conducted under the auspices of WHO. Together with the Institute of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, t project “Family and Children of Ukraine” was implemented as a part of the European Continuing Study on Pregnancy and Childhood.

In May 1998, the name of the Department of Social Hygiene and Health Organization was changed to the Department of Social Medicine and Health Care.

The Department conducted an in-depth study of new approaches to the development of educational and control test questions, which was introduced into the pedagogical process of higher medical institutions of education in Ukraine. In 1997, the “Test Questions on Social Medicine and Health Organization” were published, and in 2001 its second edition was published.

The hard work of the staff of the Department ended in 2000 with the publication of the first in Ukraine fundamental textbook “Social Medicine and Health Organization” for students of higher medical institutions of the III-IV levels of accreditation. In 2002, the “Guide to Social Medicine and Health Organization” was published, as well as the textbook “Social Medicine and Health Organization” for students of higher medical institutions of the I-II levels of accreditation.

From 2004 to 2014, the Department was headed by Academician of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Honored Doctor of Ukraine, Professor V. Moskalenko. The staff of the Department worked on scientific problems of health care reform, priority development of primary health care, the introduction of preventive foundations in the activities of health care institutions, study of the impact of environmental determinants of health, formation of principles of a healthy lifestyle. The staff of the Department participated in the activity of working groups of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

The staff of the Department prepared curricula for teaching subjects with the participation of the leading methodologists of the Department – associate professors Pruss L.O., Chuiko A.P., Zorina S.M., Kukhlenko G.V., Polyansky O.A.

Staff wrote and published textbooks of the new generation: “Biostatistics”, “Economics of Health”, “Public Health”.

During this period the collaboration of department staff with the WHO Bureau in Ukraine and the WHO Regional Office for Europe begins. Professor Gruzieva T.S. as a member of the official Ukrainian delegation took part in the WHO Tallinn Ministerial Conference (2008). The staff of the department was elected to WHO institutions. In particular, the Head of the department was elected as a member of the WHO Committee on Policy and Coordination of the Special Program of Scientific Research, Development and Training of Scientific Personnel in the Field of Population Reproduction (2009-2010), Professor of the Department Gulchii O.P. was a member of WHO Standing Committee (2010-2012).

A scientific laboratory of strategic research in health care was established at the department, which included Professor T.S. Gruzieva, associate professor L.I. Galiienko, Senior Research Officer H.V. Inshakova. They participated in the preparation of a series of national reports for Ukraine for WHO including “Tobacco Control in Ukraine” (2009), “Prevalence of Chronic Noncommunicable Diseases and Risk Factors in Different Age Groups in Ukraine” (2009), “Assessing Financing, Education, Governance, and the Political Context for Strategic Planning of Healthcare Resources in Ukraine” (2010).

A joint training of scientific and pedagogical staff was initiated with the Karolinska Institute (Stockholm, Sweden), within which a staff member of the department completed and defended a dissertation on the study of the effects of air pollution on the emergence and development of allergies in children, and received a Ph.D. in Medicine.

The department maintained professional relations with many foreign and Ukrainian scientific institutions. The staff of the department co-authored annual reports on the state of health of the population of Ukraine, which were published jointly with the Institute for Strategic Studies of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

In 2014, the department was reorganized and changed its name to “Department of Health Organization and Social Medicine” and from 2016 to “Department of Social Medicine and Public Health”.

Since September 2014, the department has been headed by Doctor of Medical Sciences, academician of NAHES of Ukraine, Professor T.S. Gruzieva.

The main educational activity of the department was to ensure the quality of the educational process in accordance with European standards, the implementation of a new master’s curriculum, the introduction of a new discipline “social medicine, public health” and the creation of its educational and methodological support, substantiation and development of educational program “Community Health” training bachelors and masters in public health.

As support among the one-profile departments of institutions of higher medical education of Ukraine, the Department of Social Medicine and Public Health worked on the creation of new programs and training-methodological support of the educational process.

The lecturers of the department worked as part of the working group of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine on the development of project of the standard of higher education in the specialty 229 “public health” of the field of knowledge 22 “health care” (order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated April 11, 2017 # 384).

Employees of the department (professor T.S. Gruzieva, associate professor N.V. Hrechyshkina) as a part of the working group of NMU together with colleagues from the departments of preventive direction in 2017 developed a project of curriculum for training specialists of the second (master’s) level of higher education of educational qualification “Master of Health”, professional qualification “Master of public health” in the field of knowledge 22 “Health care specialty 229 Public Health. Licensing materials were prepared and a license for Master of Public Health training was obtained.

In 2018 the specialists of the Department (Professor Gruzieva T.S., Associate Professor Hrechyshkina N.V., Associate Professor Litvinova L.O.) in collaboration with the Department of Management in Healthcare developed 2 new educational programs of the discipline “social medicine, public health” training of specialists of the second (master’s) level of higher education, educational qualification “Master of Medicine”, professional qualification “Doctor” of the field of knowledge 22 “Health” specialty 222 “Medicine” and 221 “Dentistry”. Programs were approved by the Ministry of Higher Education’s Central Methodist Office for Higher Education and recommended for use in higher medical institutions.

In the context of educational and methodological support for the implementation of new training programs, training manuals, methodological recommendations for practical classes, methodological guidelines for teachers, etc. were developed. The teaching and methodological support in English are carried out with the active participation of teachers L.I. Galiienko, V.B. Zamkevich, L.O. Litvinova, O.Ya. Antonyuk.

During 2014-2018, there were 4 meetings of one-profile departments, which discussed the most important issues of training health care professionals in the field of “social medicine, public health”.

The head of the department in 2017 was invited as an international expert for accreditation of the International Kazakh-Turkish University named after Hoxhi Ahmed Yasavi (Kazakhstan). Training of public health specialists at the National Institute of Public Health, Sanitary Inspectorate of Wroclaw, Wroclaw Clinical Hospital (Poland, 2016), Institute of Public Health of Jagiellonian University (Poland, 2017).

In 2019 the staff of the department (Professor Gruzieva T.S., Associate Professor Hrechyshkina N.V.) within the working group of the NMU together with colleagues from the departments of preventive direction have developed projects of educational program of training of specialists of the second (master’s) level of higher education of educational qualification “Master of Health”, professional qualification of “masters of public health” of the field of knowledge 22 “Health” of the specialty 229 “Public Health” (2-year term of study) and educational program of training of specialists of the first (bachelor) level of higher education of educational qualification “Bachelor of Health”, professional qualification “bachelor of public health” industry knowledge 22 “Health” 229 specialty “Public Health” (4-year training).

The department focused on the substantiation of modern strategies for combating noncommunicable pathology, improvement of preventive technologies in primary health care, development of specialized medical services in the conditions of health care reform and development of public health system, solving problems of human resources for public health and justification of training programs for public health professionals.

The department performed scientific and research project (SRP) “Justification of the modern system of prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases and formation of healthy lifestyle” commissioned by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (2014-2016), SRP “Scientific substantiation of personnel support of public health service” (2017-2019). From 2020, the implementation of the SRP “Medico-social justification of optimization of health care in the context of public health system development” is planned.

As a result of the implementation of scientific topics in 2014-2019, a number of functional-structural models, organizational technologies, training programs were substantiated. The staff prepared and co-authored 6 monographs, among which 2 monographs were published abroad, 106 articles, including 15 – in publications included in the Scopus science base, more than 150 abstracts in scientific forums, of which more than 40 – abroad, 4 newsletters, 2 guidelines, 2 manuals. In the context of the transition to the new system of awarding scientific degrees, the staff has developed the curriculum “Social Medicine” (for Ph.D. students), scientific degree “Doctor of Philosophy”.

The staff of the department worked on solving various issues of development of the national health care system within the working group of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, including as part of an interagency expert working group with international participation on the development of the concept/strategy of public health system development (order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated December 7, 2015, No. 87-Adm.); of the Interagency Working Group on Support to the Draft National Action Plan for the Implementation and Realization of the European Health Policy 2020: Fundamentals of European Policy in Support of State and Society Action on Health and Wellbeing for Non-communicable Diseases for 2020″ (Order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated January 28, 2015 No. 37); within the commission of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine for attestation of doctors in the specialty “Organization and management of health care” (order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine dated 27.02.2018, № 353).

Within the framework of the cooperation with the WHO Bureau in Ukraine, the staff of the Department Professor T.S. Gruzieva, Associate Professors L.I. Galiienko, V.B. Zamkevych, H.V. Inshakova participated in numerous programs under the auspices of WHO, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, etc. The Head of the Department as a  delegate of the Ukrainian delegation participated in the WHO Workshop on the Implementation of the Basic Action Plan on NCDs for PMC in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (Samarkand, Uzbekistan, 2016). Within the framework of the WHO Program for Supporting Ukraine in Crisis and Enhancing Access of internally migrated persons and victims of conflict to the medical care, the Department’s teachers participated in the preparation and conducting of training on emergency and primary care for internally migrated persons for a mobile groups staff  (2015).

Within the framework of the project “Non-communicable diseases: prevention and promotion of health in Ukraine” in 2016, the “Basic training for primary care in integrated management of cases of hypertension and diabetes” was developed and conducted with the assistance of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, which allowed to prepare regional trainers for all regions of Ukraine, and subsequently carry out a cascade of regional trainings of preventive guidance. Teachers of the department participated in the development of the program and conducting a series of trainings “Actual issues of prevention and management of patients with non-communicable diseases in the practice of primary care facilities” (2014-2015), “Prevention of NCDs and management of patients of older age groups with NCDs health links ”(2017) in the regions of Ukraine.

With the participation of the department’s staff, the National Action Plan for Non-communicable Diseases was prepared in accordance with the “Health-2020 Strategy: European Health and Wellbeing Policy”, Concept of Public Health System Development, project of National Action Plan on Reducing Alcohol Use, Higher Education Standard in the specialty 229 “public health” of the field of knowledge 22 “health care”, training program of an educational seminar for the training of consultants of telephone services to help in the rejection of tobacco use.

During this period partnerships were launched with a number of European educational and scientific institutions, in particular with the Polish Society of Public Health (Warsaw, Poland), the All-Polish Society of Social Medicine and Public Health Specialists (Warsaw, Poland), the National Institute of Public Health (Warsaw, Poland), National Insurance Institute (Warsaw, Poland), Institute of Public Health, Jagiellonian University (Krakow, Poland), Wroclaw Medical University (Wroclaw, Poland), Warsaw School of Economy (Warsaw, Poland), Medical University of Lodz (Poland), Institute of Public Health in Lublin (Poland), Institute of Health and Social Services of the International Art Campus in Prague (Czech Republic), Polytechnic Jihlava College (Czech Republic), St. Cyril and Methodius University (Trnava, Slovakia), J.A.Comenius University in Bratislava (Slovakia), etc.

Foreign colleagues from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Croatia, Belarus, USA, Italy participated in the annual international scientific conferences to the World Health Day at the NMU, round tables and seminars organized by the department. The staff of the department participated in the annual congresses of the Polish Public Health Society, foreign scientific forums organized by partner institutions in Poland, Slovakia, Belarus, Greece, Sweden and numerous scientific forums in Ukraine, where they made more than 70 reports.

On the basis of the Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, the “Social Medicine” approbation council operates under the specialized academic council D.26.003.01. From 2015 to 2019, 17 dissertation papers were considered at the meetings, including 10 for the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences and 7 for the Candidate of Medical Sciences. During the period 2015-2019, 7 dissertation works were completed and defended at the department, including 2 by employees and 5 by the department’s searchers.

Since 2019, 5 dissertations have been performed at the department, including 3 dissertations for obtaining the doctor of philosophy degree by the postgraduate students of the department, 2 theses for obtaining the scientific degree of doctor of medicine among the staff of the department.

The development of youth medical and social science became a priority activity of the department. In this context, together with the scientists of the Karolinska Institute, Professor Pershagen J., Assistant Professor O. Gruzieva and Ph.D. student Pico A., two Epidemiology trainings for young scientists were organized and held in the Department in 2015 and 2016. On the initiative of the staff of the department a program was developed and a series of cycles for student youth “Scientific research: from A to Z” was developed with the active participation of associate professors Litvinova L.I., Hrechyshkina N.V., Zamkevych V.B., Donik O. M., Inshakova H.V. Particular attention was paid to the work of the student scientific group, which was taken care of by Professor Galiienko L.I., Associate Professor Donik O.M. and assistant Artemchuk LI.

The result of hard work with talented youth was the victory of the department’s students in the second stage of the All-Ukrainian Student Olympiad in Social Medicine (2015-2019), the second round of the All-Ukrainian Student Research Contest (2015-2019) and foreign scientific competitions, in particular International Young Scientists Scientific Conference (Lisbon, Portugal, 2015) – 1st place, International Competition of Student Scientific researches (Wroclaw, Poland) in the framework of the 10th Anniversary of Public Health – 2nd place in 2017 and 1st place –in 2018.

The staff is proud of the department’s glorious history, its distinguished personalities. For over 18 years, the department was headed by Professor Grando OA, the 100th anniversary of which was celebrated in 2019. Academician of NAMSU, Professor Voronenko Yu.V. headed the department for 13 years.

Such famous scientists as Professor Belitska Ye.A., Getsov G.B., Duplenko K.F., Poznansky S.S., Liekariev L.G., Sachuk N.M., Dudko O., Kryshtopa B.P. and others started their career at the department.

More than 50 years Associate Professors Prus L.O., Chuiko A.P., Zorina S.M., Kukhlenko G.V., Poliansky O.A. devoted to the teaching and methodological work of the department.

During the existence of the department, about 1500 scientific works were published, including more than 70 monographs, more than 50 textbooks and manuals, a considerable number of methodical recommendations and instructions. More than 1200 speeches have been made at congresses and scientific conferences. Since 1946 the department’s staff and researchers have defended 28 doctoral and over 130 Ph.D. theses.

Nowadays academician of NAHES, Professor Gruzieva T.S., Doctor of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor Galiienko L.I., Doctor of Medical Sciences, Senior Research Officer Associate Professor Mykytenko D.O., Doctor of Medical Sciences, Chief Scientific Officer Palamar B.I., Candidate of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.), Associate Professor Hrechyshkina N.V., Candidate of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.), Associate Professor Zamkevych V.B., Candidate of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.), Associate Professor Zorina S.M., Candidate of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.), Associate Professor Litvinova L.О., Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences (Ph.D.), Associate Professor Donik О.М., Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences (Ph.D.), Associate Professor Inshakova H.V., Candidate of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.) Bibik I.G., Candidate of Medical Sciences (Ph.D.) Stoika О.О., Senior Lecturer Vlasenko S.V., assistant Antonyuk O.Ya., assistant Artemchuk L.I., assistant Voloshyna D.S., assistant Zholobko O.V., assistant Ionov М.М., assistant Sakhno N.A., assistant Slutu N.Yu., assistant Shkala O.V., senior laboratory assistant Ksiondz N.A., laboratory assistants Masorina L.I., Putivska N.A., Chuiko L.V. work at the department.

Department of Social Medicine and Public Health of O. Bogomolets National Medical University continues the glorious traditions of the past and, at a high professional level, performs the tasks of training staff for the healthcare system.