Challenges of disaster medicine training as part of professional degree and possible solutions (literature review)

Abstract

Relevance. Professional healthcare workers are the main asset of disaster medicine service, enabling utmost efficiency of activities. Disaster medicine training is a must for medical university students due to complicated labor conditions, specific responsibilities, and round-the-clock preparedness to provide emergency medical care to disaster victims. New Russian legislation on advancements in medical education emphasizes the top priority and high demand for disaster medicine training of promising doctors.The objective is to analyze disaster medicine training practices in medical universities providing future healthcare professionals with a disaster medicine degree, as well as to identify specialty-related educational challenges encountered by medical universities of RussiaMethods. The analysis of relevant legal regulation in Russia was supported by open research data regarding professional degree in disaster medicine. The results were systemized; key findings and conclusions were formulated.Results and discussion. Existing degree programs neglect hands-on disaster medicine training of medical professionals. There is an urgent need for a common medical degree curriculum in disaster medicine to be developed and approved by the Russian Ministry of Healthcare. Disaster Medicine as a specialty degree is in dire need of recognition by law, followed by establishing a specialized educational standard and training program. There is critical demand for innovative and more efficient training of students, accurate assessment of knowledge and skills, improved quality of hands-on training, and extensive cooperation of university disaster medicine departments with various disaster medicine institutions.Conclusion. Today the disaster medicine degree in medical universities requires improvements. By solving the identified challenges in disaster medicine hands-on training provided to students in medical universities, the country is going to improve the quality and efficiency of public medical care for those affected by emergency situations.