COVID-2019. Medical Universities in the context of the pandemic

The Council of rectors and the Ministry of healthcare of Russia discussed the best practices of medical universities in education and clinical work.

The conference call of the Association Council of rectors of Russian medical and pharmaceutical universities discussed the ways to conduct educational activities and implement health care tasks in the context of the COVID-2019 pandemic.

The meeting with the participation of Mikhail Murashko, Minister of healthcare of RF, was held in the format of online conference on April 13, 2020. Having opened the conference, Peter Glybochko, Chairman of the Association, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, rector of Sechenov University, invited the rectors’ community to discuss issues on remote education and the algorithm for converting the bed fund of regional medical universities clinics into hospitals for patients with coronavirus.

Priorities for the fight against coronavirus

Mikhail Murashko, the Russian Minister of healthcare, spoke about what was important to take into account in that complex and large-scale work. "The pathology we are facing is progressing in a very short period of time. Against the background of infection, pneumonia develops and there is a manifestation of diseases associated with thromboembolic complications. This is especially concerns people who have a predisposition or suffer from antiphospholipid syndrome, malignancies and diseases with an increased risk of thrombosis. To help patients with severe illness, Federal centers that previously provided high-tech medical care and clinical bases of medical universities are being re-purposed, " - Mikhail Murashko said and recalled that the work should have been guided by the order of the Ministry of healthcare of Russia dated March 19, 2020, №198n. The order contains requirements for the equipment of medical organizations and the qualifications of their employees. Each of these requirements is necessary to prevent and reduce the risks of spreading COVID-19 coronavirus infection.

"The situation associated with the disease is also characterized by the fact that we do not have a drug that can control this infectious process. Therefore, separation and epidemiological measures are a priority for the fight against coronavirus,” - Mikhail Murashko explained and told about the actions of universities that were necessary in the situation of the pandemic and were regulated by the Ministry of healthcare of RF.

Expected actions from universities

Speaking about the "actions of universities that we are expecting", the Minister of healthcare noted the importance of developing remote education, attracting faculty members, residents and postgraduates to provide medical care in hospitals and outpatient clinics, mandatory participation of universities in the formation of regional resuscitation centers that helped severe patients with COVID-19, the development of the volunteer movement to help citizens in need of social support. According to Mikhail Murashko speech, universities that have clinical bases will be involved in the work of headquarters to provide assistance for coronavirus infection – a corresponding decree of the Government of the Russian Federation has been prepared.

Chairman of the Association Council of rectors of Russian medical and pharmaceutical universities Peter Glybochko supported the Minister of healthcare: "Medical universities cannot stand aside, having qualified teaching staff and clinical centers."

The clinical base of Sechenov University was one of the first to be converted into a hospital with 2000 beds for patients with coronavirus infection. At Peter Glybochko’ initiative, rector of Sechenov University, scientists and clinicians prepared temporary guidelines "Drug therapy of acute respiratory viral infections (ARVI) in outpatient practice during the COVID-19 epidemic" (posted on the website of the Ministry of healthcare of Russia). The University has established a specialized Federal remote consultation center for anesthesiology and resuscitation for adults, residents and postgraduates work in urban medical institutions, and e-medical education is being intensively developed. "Before the COVID-19 pandemic was announced, we considered e – health education as the near future, but life makes it urgent to work remotely," said Peter Glybochko.

Remote education

Tatyana Litvinova, Vice-rector for academic affairs of Sechenov University, made the report on the organization of educational activities in the context of the pandemic. The main challenges of distance education are, first of all, the practical and patient-oriented tendency of educational programs for medical students, the need to enter the mode of remote contactless learning quickly and the adaptation of professors and teachers to the implementation of disciplines exclusively in remote mode.

Tatyana Litvinova presented digital solutions using electronic platforms and cloud storage services, told about the experience of Sechenov University and suggested using the open medical education platform Sechenov.online to replicate best practices, create an individual training plan, technological solutions and educational content. The unified educational portal of the University currently includes 1904 lectures and 423 educational courses, and the digital library contains 9036 electronic publications that provide remote access for students in various enlarged groups of specialties.

The report was supplemented by rectors of other medical universities. Alexey Sozinov, rector of Kazan State Medical University, presented the results of the survey of students from medical and pharmaceutical universities in Russia, according to which 93.4% of students were involved in remote education, while 80% used electronic services before the pandemic, and 12% of polled became information volunteers – they helped those who needed help in mastering IT technologies. Alexey Pavlov, rector of Yaroslavl State Medical University, spoke about the University's project – a virtual workshop on Histology with access to a collection of panoramic digital microscopic preparations. It is planned to develop this project for other fundamental disciplines. Viktor Lazarenko, rector of Kursk State Medical University reported on the University's experience in the field of digitalization.

Commenting on the speech about remote education, Peter Glybochko recalled the need for distance education of doctors and nurses working with patients during the COVID-19 epidemic: "Today, the Minister of healthcare has set the task to prepare treatment schemes for patients with various pathologies within the hospital. We offer to create online working groups in various areas with the participation of rectors and Vice-rectors for educational and medical work. Doctors and medical staff should not be left alone with a global problem - the pandemic."

Participation of universities in the implementation of healthcare tasks

Viktor Fomin, Vice-rector of Sechenov University for clinical work and additional professional education, head of the Federal Remote Advisory Center for Anesthesiology and Resuscitation, reported to the Council of rectors on the tasks of medical universities in the context of the pandemic. Participation of medical universities in the implementation of regional health problems in the context of the pandemic involves three areas: deployment of beds for coronavirus infection, training of personnel in programs of additional professional education, support of medical care – the creation of consulting and resource centers on the basis of universities.

"Universities are the main resource for analyzing the effectiveness of coronavirus infection patients’ treatment, developing and improving treatment regimens, organizing and conducting clinical research, and creating an archive of big data," - Viktor Fomin assured and made a proposal to create a vertical network of consulting and resource centers for University coronavirus infection with a head center at Sechenov University. "The direct participation of universities in solving health problems should become the most important guarantee of the quality of medical care for patients with coronavirus infection (COVID-19)."

Sergey Bagnenko, rector of the Academician I. P. Pavlov First Saint Petersburg State Medical University, and Andrey Eryomin, first Vice-rector of the V. I. Razumovsky Saratov State Medical University, reported to the Council of rectors on their participation in the implementation of regional health care tasks.

Summarizing the reports, Peter Glybochko noted that universities would take part in the establishment of regional coronavirus centers of Ministry of healthcare of Russia and the conversion of hospital beds, and warned not to underestimate the difficulty of that work. Along with redesigning beds, it is necessary to solve the issues of providing medical workers with personal protective equipment, purchasing antiviral and antibacterial drugs, oxygen, ventilators, and organizing the work of medical staff, when patients are simultaneously brought 10-20 ambulances, competently and promptly organize the work of resuscitators.

In such a difficult situation volunteers provide the effective assistance.

#Мывместе

Pavel Savchuk, Chairman of the all-Russian public movement Medical Volunteers, told the Council of rectors about the work of volunteers.

Irina Kupeeva, Director of the Department of medical education and personnel policy in healthcare of the Ministry of healthcare RF, took part in the work of the Association Council of rectors of medical and pharmaceutical universities of Russia.

Source: http://sovetrektorov.ru/novosti/2020/covid-2019-meditsinskie-vuzy-v-usloviyakh-pandemii/