DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICAL SCIENCE AND EDUCATION IN UKRAINE: A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive analysis of the development of medical science and medical education in Ukraine from a historical perspective. Particular attention is paid to the development of medical science in Galicia in the late nineteenth and first third of the twentieth century, when Lviv emerged as one of the leading centers of clinical medicine, sanitary and hygienic science, and medical education. Galicia, in turn, became a region of intensive development of public medical care for children and adults, hygiene, public health, health-promotion initiatives, and related areas. Lviv University, the Shevchenko Scientific Society, the Secret University in Lviv, the Ukrainian Medical Association, the Ukrainian Hygienic Society, the Medical Community Society, the Renaissance Society, and other organizations laid the intellectual foundations for the development of Ukrainian medical science and national medical education, as well as systems of community-based medical care for Ukrainians, widespread health-promotion practices, anti-smoking and anti-alcohol initiatives among children, young people, and adults, and public health education. The article examines the historical continuity of Ukrainian medical science, which subsequently found expression in the activities of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine as the country's leading state scientific institution in the field of healthcare. The study concludes that, by the late nineteenth century, the fundamental principles that remain relevant to contemporary medical education and science in Ukraine had already emerged: the integration of scientific research, clinical practice, and university education; international academic cooperation; interdisciplinary research; the prioritization of preventive medicine; the development of national scientific terminology; academic autonomy; and continuous professional development of physicians. These principles are currently implemented through the activities of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, medical universities, and research institutions.