Diary of the IV Online International Summer Medical School

 

 

 

On August 23, the opening of the long-awaited IV Online International Summer Medical School “Reproductive Health of Adolescents” took place within the walls of the Omsk Regional Children's Clinical Hospital. The participants of the School were Chinese students from Medical Universities of Harbin, Nanjing and Shanxi, as well as Russian students from Voronezh State Medical University named after N. N. Burdenko, Dagestan State Medical University and Omsk State Medical University. 

 

During the period from August 23 to August 27, students will study the most relevant issues of child and adolescent reproduction, andrology, and gynecology. They will listen to a course of lectures from leading specialists of the OSMU Department of Pediatric Surgery, see interesting clinical cases and witness unique operations, including gender correction. This year, the School is being held online for the first time. Students of OSMU will help with the translation and the organization of a new online format of the Summer School; the volunteers are Ekaterina Svyatogorova, Elena Savchenko, Yerzhan Sergazy, Daria Korchagina, Valeria Fris, Aleksandra Razheva, Kristina Martirosyan, Anna Nazarenko, Alexander Ermolenko, Egor Khoroshkin, and Daria Tikhonravova.

 

Oleg Yu. Gorbunov, Head Physician of the Omsk Regional Children's Hospital, addressed the guests with a welcoming speech: "Thank you for your attention, interest, and participation in this School. I hope that the theoretical and practical experience we have accumulated on this topic will be useful for you in your further scientific, educational, and practical activities. The theme of the School is not just unique and interesting; it is an opportunity to form a healthy future for our citizens. The lecturers participating in the School have a huge theoretical, scientific, and practical experience on this topic. I am sure that this School will be an important event not only in your educational life and a contribution to your horizons, but will also serve as a wonderful investment in your future and professional growth."

 

Professor Zhan Ming Yu, Director of the International Education College of Harbin Medical University, has welcomed participants: "This year, Chinese and Russian Universities held 18 joint online events, including scientific conferences, short-term internships, competitions, and cultural exchange events, and the number of participating students reached 658 people. I am very glad to see that the Summer School of Omsk State Medical University has aroused the interest of 63 Chinese and Russian students from Medical Universities in our countries. I hope that they will be able to learn all the mysteries of medicine and also get the latest knowledge in the field of adolescent reproductive health. At the same time, I believe that the students participating in this Summer School will be able to use this as an opportunity to expand knowledge, improve mutual learning and create a good basis for further cooperation between Chinese and Russian Medical Universities. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the treaty on good-neighborliness, friendship, and cooperation between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation. I sincerely wish China and Russia a strong friendship between generations, new directions in cooperation, productive collaborative work for defeating the coronavirus epidemic, successful joint training of highly qualified medical personnel, as well as joint creation of a wonderful future for all mankind."

 

Professor Andrey V. Pisklakov, Head of the Department of Pediatric Surgery, presented his welcome speech: "Our first School was held in 2015 with mutual interest from the Medical Universities of Omsk and the city of Bochum (Germany). The topic of the conference turned out to be very popular and we decided to make the School traditional. The previous School, held in 2018, brought together students from 8 countries. This suggests that the topic is extremely relevant for almost all countries in the world. Students of our University even take a course called "Fundamentals of Reproduction", and it was their interest that prompted us to organize such Schools. The theme of the School is the contribution of our generation to the future because only a healthy generation can pass on its healthy genes to descendants. All diseases come from childhood, which is why the reproductive health of children and adolescents is the reproductive health of the nation. Unfortunately, it cannot be said that the reproductive health of mankind is improving. As I tell my students at lectures - soon not only every egg but also every sperm will be a national treasure. I think that after listening to our lectures and taking part in practical classes, you will get information that will certainly be useful in practical activities. Undoubtedly, the Schools held offline allowed students to gain experience in communicating with representatives of other countries, but the current realities have transferred us to an online format. But I must say that there are also positive aspects, namely - an expanded audience, while the first time there was only 12 participants, now there are about 100 of you."

 

Everyone congratulated the participants on the opening of the School in a new format and wished them good luck and productive activity during this busy week.

 

 

We were looking forward to the first school day of the Summer School, and here it is! The participants and volunteers were extremely excited because the event is very important; they wanted everything to go great. Due to online format, unfortunately, there is no opportunity to see and to discuss the clinical cases described in the classes on real patients in hospital, but we are not discouraged, because our professors have prepared the most detailed and visual educational material, videos and schemes of all operations and presented nosologies so that participants learn as much as possible about reproductive health!

 

At the first lecture of Professor Andrey V. Pisklakov, devoted to the main aspects of the embryo- and pathogenesis of the reproductive system disorders, the audience didn't hesitate; students have been actively asking questions concerning gender and its differentiation. The lecture ended very quickly, and after it, students had the opportunity to relax during a break after the flow of new information, as well as ask the remaining questions in the chat.

 

The second lecture was devoted to complex forms of sexual differentiation disorders. The curiosity of the participants did not fade, and Professor Pisklakov and our team of volunteers helped the listeners to comprehend the features of violations of sexual differentiation and various forms of hermaphroditism.

 

Although the Summer School this year is being held in online mode, it was incredibly interesting for both foreign students and the volunteers of our University. We wish all participants of the Summer School not to lose their passion and curiosity and strive to comprehend science further! We believe that the acquired knowledge will help you in future medical studies and clinical practice!