Department of Pediatric Surgery
History of the Department
Department of Pediatric Surgery (then it was called “Department of Children’s Surgery with Orthopedics and Traumatology”) was founded in 1935/36 academic year, on the basis of associate professorship of orthopedics, pediatric faculty in the Kyiv Medical Institute. At that time the Paediatric Faculty consisted of 17 Departments, in which there were standing departments on the following subjects: Pediatrics, nervous diseases, psychiatry, physiology, of child, the school hygiene, pedology, children’s infection and pediatric surgery.
17 August 1935 should be considered as the date of Birthday of Pediatric Surgery Department of КМІ, when the Deputy of People’s Commissariat for Health of Ukraine Kharmadaryan approved “List of Departments required for medical institutions of Ukraine”. This list also includes among others the Department of Pediatric Surgery, which has been recognized as obligatory one for three medical universities of Ukraine – in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa.
Anatoly Yakovlevich Sheftel was appointed as Acting Head of the Department of Paediatric Surgery of КМІ (the Decree of КМІ No. 58, & 10, dated 11 November 1935), who worked at that time as the Senior Assistant of Department of Orthopedics at the Railway Hospital and at the same time had the office of the Dean of the medical faculty of КМІ (Kyiv Medical Institute).
First Head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery of КМІ
First Department of Children’s surgery was found in the Railway Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopedics with thirty children’s beds. Hospital did not provide urgent surgical care to the children. Clinic of the Department of Pediatric Surgery had its had its ambulatory of pediatric surgery on the basis of the Zhovtnevyi dispensary.
The Department staff consisted of Head of the Department (Prof. A. Ya. Sheftel, two assistant referees – M. D. Konshin (since 1936 ) and M.M. Bass (since 1937 ), senior laboratory assistant having secondary medical education.
In April 1938, the Department was transferred into the base of Children’s Surgical Department of the Hospital n.a. M. I. Kalinin, where the best conditions for training students were available. The clinic had a Surgical Department intended for the treatment of 60 children with the surgical pathology and the treatment of children’s injury, urgent alternation held twice a week. The Department had a clinical, bacteriological and pathological-anatomical laboratory, the library of 1200 books.
1938. Deputy People’s Commissar of Health of the USSR adopted the educational program “Course of Pediatric Surgery of Urology and Orthopedics” for pediatric departments of medical educational institutions of the USSR. The program included 33 sections on Surgical Pathologies and was intended for 161 training hours, for which 71 hours were assigned for lectures, and 90 hours for practical trainings.
During 1946-1950, the students of Paediatric Faculty of Kyiv Medical Institute students studied at the Department of Paediatric Surgery, military-field surgery, hospital surgery, and, therefore, Children’s Surgery with Orthopedics and Traumatology. Associate Professors A. R. Shurynok and M. M. Bass taught the Course of Battlefield Surgery – during war they were working as leading surgeons in the large hospitals on various fronts, they have considerable experience in this section of surgery.
Staff of the Department of Paediatric Surgery with the group of students. Sit ting (leftwards): Associate Professor Shurynok, Assistant Yankevych, Prof. Sheftel, Assoc. Prof. Bass. Photograph taken in the end of 40-ies of the last century
When in 1952 the Professor A. I. Sheftel fell ill and retired on a pension, Associate Professor Andrei Romanovich Shurynka was appointed as the Acting Head of the Department
At that time the base of the Department had already 70 staff beds for children and 30 for adults. Surgical Department of the Hospital alternated 4 times a week, provided to the children from all the districts of Kyiv with urgent surgical servicing and adults from Zhovtnevyi District. Children having difficult surgical pathology from the regions of Ukraine entered into the clinic for the treatment. Due to this favorable conditions for pedagogical process and for scientific research were created.
The Staff of Children’s Surgery consisted of eight persons: Acting Head of the Department, Associate Professor A. R. Shurynok, Associate Professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences N. M. Bass, Assistants – Candidates of Medical Science and M. Yankevych and G. T. Tarasenko, as well as O. D. Rudyk; the Senior Assistant Ye. Y. Kulyk, Laboratory Assistant M.S. Garkavenko, the Attendant – P. R. Ignatenko.
1955 Associate Professor A. R. Shurynok defended his Doctor’s Dissertation on the subject: “Research Methods of Painful Signs in Children with Chronic Appendicitis and its Anatomical-Physiological Grounding”.
Doctor of medical sciences, professor, Honored Worker of Science of USSR, A.R. Shurynok, the head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery in 1953-1968.
Department of Pediatric Surgery in 1963 Sitting: Laboratory Assistant E. I. Kulyk, Associate Professor M. B. Sitkovskyi, Prof. A. R. Shurynok, Associate Professor O. V. Dolnytskyi, As. M.I. Mokryk Standing: Laboratory Assistant M. S. Garkavenko, post-graduate student А.F. Buryanov, graduate student V.M. Kaplan.
Teachers of the Department defended their doctoral dissertations, and they actively provided consultations in various medical institutions in Kiev, they travelled for giving the consultations to other cities and regions, helping in work of the practical doctors. The training of children’s surgeons through clinical residency and post-graduate courses has successfully held at the Department .
Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor M.B. Sitkovskyi,
the Head of the Department of Paediatric Surgery during 1969-1991
Professor О.V. Dolnytskyi has been pictured while performing microsurgery
Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor D.Yu. Kryvchenia, Honoured Worker of Science of Ukraine, the Head of the Department of Paediatric Surgery during 1992-2011.
In 1992 professor Mykhailo Sitkovskiy moved to professorship, and professor Danylo Krivchenya on competitive basis was elected by Bogomolets NMU Board of Studies to be the head of Pediatric Surgery Chair.
Professor Danylo Krivchenya and his staff developedand implemented new methods of diagnosis and surgical treatment for Hirshprung disease, chest wall deformities, congenital anomalies of biliary tract, portal hypertension. congenital anomalies of aorta that cause trachea compression, gastroschisis, esophageal atresia and many others.
Department of Children’s surgery in the NMU has joined to the Bologna Process of Study and thus it came nearer to the European standard of the education and training of medical personnel.
The structure of the Department of Paediatric Surgery of NMU in 2002
А.F. Levytskyi, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor, Honorary Doctor of Ukraine
In February 2011 professor Krivchenya moved to professorship. Doctor of medical sciences, professor, the Honored doctor of Ukraine Anatolii Levitskiy was appointed head of Pediatric Surgery Chair.
Professor Anatolii Levitskiy educated at the Pediatric Surgery Chair went from being an assistant professor, senior lecturer and then a professor. He is famous in pediatric orthopedics and traumatology. He is an author of more than 100 articles, monographies and manuals.
Being a surgeon of European level, he performs a lot of complicated procedures in children with broad spectrum of orthopedic pathology: traumas, congenital anomalies and acquired diseases of musculoskeletal system. Under his supervision and of course his personal involvement the most complex reconstructive procedures in children with scoliosis are performed.