MASU students helped frontline healthcare workers during COVID-19

• 08.04.2022
• 801

Murmansk's hospitals faced heavy workload and medical staff shortages during the third wave of the coronavirus outbreak in Russia. The Ministry of Health of Murmansk Region asked Irina Shadrina, Rector of Murmansk Arctic State University, to get a group of students studying General Medicine for help.

Students volunteered in the city health centres and gained experience. The majority of them worked as administrators — answered calls and processed patients' personal data, such as vaccination certificates and QR-codes. Those students, who have already received secondary professional education in medicine, helped ambulance teams during emergency calls.

Despite heavy workload, all students could easily juggle university classes and work at health centres and hospitals.

«It wasn't easy, but students had a chance to see how important their future profession is. They also felt that they were a part of the medical community. This was a great experience that helped our students to see their future occupation inside out, to gain necessary skills and responsibility to the work,» said Yuri Zakrevsky, Head of General Medicine programme. «I joined our students too as general practitioner and was taking patients who had either acute respiratory disease or COVID-19.»

Every student was awarded with appreciation letters from the Head Doctor of Murmansk Municipal Health Centre no. 1.

• Nikita Vasilyev, Sergei Nikitin, Daria Kopchinskaya and Ali Abdi volunteered in Municipal Health Centre no. 1.

• Evgeny Akatov, Ekaterina Ersh and Farhad Babakhanov, all Physician Assistants, joined the mobile ambulance team of the same Health Centre.

• Dmitry Kuklin and Nikolai Gorchakov, both Physician Assistants as well, worked with ambulance team of First Aid Station no. 1

• Yuri Zakrevsky, Advanced Doctor in Medical Sciences and Head of General Medicine programme, worked half-time in Temporary Health Centre for ARD and COVID-19 treatment based in Municipal Health Centre no. 1.