Samarkand State Medical University imparting quality education
Samarkand State Medical University has signed memoranda with 107 international organizations, seeking to harmonize global medical practices
The education system in the Republic of Uzbekistan is undergoing continuous development to produce knowledgeable and competent graduates who are equipped to meet the demands of the global market. The ongoing reforms in the higher education sector are geared towards increasing access, improving the financial status of institutes and universities, and providing financial support to professors and teachers.
The education opportunities provided by the leadership of our country are an investment in the future of our youth.
The President’s decision on December 24, 2021, “On additional measures to ensure the academic and organizational-management independence of state higher education institutions,” has granted our university academic and financial independence, increasing our responsibility to provide quality education
This belief has led to significant strides in medical education over the past five years. Samarkand State Medical University, the first university specializing in medicine in Central Asia, currently boasts 9 faculties, 86 departments, and 9 bachelor’s programs, 35 master’s programs, more than 40 clinical residency specialties, and 8 joint educational programs. With over 11,000 students enrolled, the university employs 647 professors, including 85 doctors of science and 265 candidates of science, with a scientific potential of 56.1%.
Notably, the university has established promising partnerships with 76 higher educational institutions, 23 scientific centers, and 8 major medical centers and clinics, with the volume of collaboration growing each year. In 2022, 138 professors and teachers underwent advanced training abroad, with 80 conducting training at some of the world’s 1000 most prestigious higher education institutions, and 122 foreign teachers participating in the institute’s educational programs, delivering lectures, seminars, and masterclasses. Currently, the university has established regular collaborations with more than 106 foreign higher education and scientific research centers to develop the medical field. These collaborations include 90 higher education institutions, comprising 15 from EU countries, 2 from the USA, 8 from Asian countries, and 65 from CIS countries. During 2022, the university signed more than 10 agreements with the participation of over 8 international partner universities and organizations, with 90% of these collaborations progressing step by step.
Samarkand State Medical University is developing relations with the participants of international cooperation in the field of education and science, based on the principle of equality
The development of cooperation dialogues with European, Asian, North American and CIS universities is based on joint programs and educational mobility. Every year, the number of highly qualified specialists, professors, students and researchers from abroad who visit SamSMU in order to establish cooperation dialogues, study, improve their skills, and participate in scientific conferences is increasing. It is important to note that until November 2022, more than 40 international conferences and about 235 international webinars on various topics with leading foreign higher education institutions were held at university.
Through collaborations with foreign higher education institutions, Samarkand State Medical University is expanding personnel training through joint educational programs. Currently, a total of 188 students are enrolled in the “double diploma” program (4+2) in pediatrics, dentistry, and treatment work at the Privolzhsk Research Medical University of the Russian Federation. Additionally, 16 students are enrolled in the “double diploma” program (3+2) in clinical psychology at Chuvashia State University named after I.N. Ulyanov of the Russian Federation, while four students are enrolled in the “double degree” program (3+2) in pharmacy at Saratov State Medical University named after V.I. Razumovsky of the Russian Federation. Furthermore, 30 students are studying in the “double degree” program (3+2.5) in health care at the Graduate School of Business, National Louis University of Poland as part of the joint study program.
Samarkand State Medical University has plans to launch a joint specialization program, “Bioengineering and Bioinformatics,” in a “3+2” format starting from the 2023-2024 academic year. This program will be in collaboration with the Baltic Federal University named after I. Kant in the Kaliningrad region of Russia, where students will study in Samarkand for 3 years and Kaliningrad for 2 years. SamSMU has established a strong partnership with BFU, with a representative office of the Baltic Federal University operating at SamSMU since 2022. This agency serves as a platform for collaborative research in the field of information technology and artificial intelligence for medical purposes.
At present, the university hosts 1500 foreign students from various countries such as Pakistan, India, South Korea, Afghanistan, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Great Britain, Germany, Philippines, Turkey, and Turkmenistan.
Samarkand State Medical University has made significant progress in all areas of scientific and innovative activity as it works towards achieving the goals set by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan to develop science and innovation in the country.
First of all, the scope and goals of training highly qualified scientific and scientific-pedagogical personnel at Samarkand State Medical University have changed. In Samarkand State Medical University, scientific councils for awarding PhD and DSc scientific degrees have been established and are functioning effectively. Since the beginning of its activity, scientific councils formed under SamSMU have conducted 39 dissertation defenses, 34 of them for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) and 5 Doctor of Science (DSc) degrees. In two years, 112 candidates of science and 15 candidate theses were defended by the Samarkand State Medical University staff
Publication of periodical scientific and practical journals in an educational institution is an extremely important and necessary element in the infrastructure of scientific communication. Since 2020, Samarkand State Medical University has started publishing 8 scientific and practical journals: 4 narrow profile journals ((Journal of Hepato-Gastroenterological Research, Journal of Stomatology and Craniofacial Research, Journal of Reproductive Health and Uronephrological Research and Journal of Cardiorespiratory Research; 4 magazines covering all branches of theoretical and applied medicine (“Biology and Medical Problems”, “Doctor’s Bulletin”, “Biomedicine and Practice” and Uzbek magazine Case reports) and collective monographs.
Organization and holding of high-level scientific events as a means of promoting science and PR activities of university. Over the past two years, SamSMU has successfully organized more than 250 scientific events, webinars and workshops. In total, more than 3,000 people participated in these events at 70 scientific venues of the conference.
In order to attract financial resources, complete documents of about 50 project applications were prepared. Currently, 6 project applications have been recommended for financing by the Ministry of Innovative Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan. 8.2 billion Uzbek soums were allocated for the implementation of these projects on scientific and innovative activities.
In 2021-2022, there are 15 textbooks, 126 monographs, 279 methodological recommendations, training manuals, 276 in Scopus and Web of science, 3457 articles (national/republic), 359 patents and software product certificates.
The electronic library of the Information Resource Center provides services to students. The information-resource center is equipped with modern technical tools, and the electronic library uses SCOPUS, EBSCO, SPRINGER, GEOTAR-Media international scientific databases. There are about 63,500 books in the electronic library database. 35 textbooks, 142 study guides, 137 monographs, and 79 methodological manuals created by university professors in the last three years have been included.
In our country, the attention to youth, care for the growing mature generation is important as it has risen to the level of state policy. Attention to young people and their support is increasing day by day, opening many opportunities for them. Because young people are the future of the country, the creators of tomorrow.
Rector of Samarkand State Medical University Professor Jasur Rizaev is organizing a number of meetings and open conversations in order to further support the active young people of university and encourage them for their educational, scientific and spiritual growth.
Talented students studying at Samarkand State Medical University have achieved several achievements so far, including the number of winners of Presidential and prestigious scholarships, which is increasing year by year. Currently, 89 scientific courses are being held at the departments of university. In addition to departmental clubs, various clubs are held at the initiative of students and professors of our university. For example, “Medical English” course was organized by senior students of General Medicine faculty. The purpose of this program is to teach international education in Uzbekistan, to adapt to English literature in a short period of time, to be able to compete with students of world medical universities. Also, “Scientific Literacy Course” was organized for students in order to write articles that meet the requirements of prestigious magazines.
Active participation in the “Best Article of the Year” competition among students, doctoral students and researchers for two years in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher and Secondary Special Education, “Ulugbek” Foundation for the Support of Talented Youth of the Republic of Uzbekistan and Youth Affairs Agency of the Republic of Uzbekistan are participating and winning prizes.
This year, a memorandum was signed with “Directorate of Software Products and Information Technology Technological Park” LLC (IT-Park), the main goal of which is to inform our students about startup projects, to create their own projects and to finance them. As a result, 2 startup projects were considered relevant in our university, funds were allocated to them, and financing work is underway. Students of our university are taking advantage of this and actively participating in their startup projects.
As part of the five important initiatives put forward by the head of our state, in order to raise the morale of our youth and widely promote reading among them, a book trade exhibition was organized at the Samarkand State Medical University on the initiative of the Information Resource Center under the slogan “Book-knowledge source”.
Samarkand State Medical University students actively participate in international and national competitions and conferences
Over 400 students have achieved high results in international and national Olympiads, while 578 students have won prizes in international and national conferences. Moreover, the number of students with international language certificates is increasing rapidly, with over 30 students already holding these certificates.
13 SamSMU students also took part in a scientific conference held by the United Nations and won first place in the “Best Innovator,” “Young Scientist-2022,” and “Best Young Scientists – 2022” categories, receiving badges for their achievements.
In addition to state scholarships, the university has also established the “Rector’s Scholarship” to support talented students and encourage their future activities. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 178 students were nominated for the Rector’s Scholarship.
