Military Medical Training at the Central Institute for the Advanced Medical Education in the Second Half of the 1930s

Abstract

The paper describes the initial stage in the organization of military medical training at the Central Institutefor Advanced Medical Education (CIAME), now the Russian Medical Academy for Continuous Professional Educationat the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow. The problem statement in this study is the first of itskind in Russian historiography. The research relied on the documents found in the Russian State Archive of Scientificand Technical Documentation and the Archive of the Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education.The decision to establish a military medical department at the CIAME was made in 1936. The authors identified the main tasks and challenges the new department had to face, as well as solution methods, areas of theoretical and practical training,and curriculum. The article also describes the role of the CIAME in the Battle of Khalkhin Gol in 1939 and the WinterWar of 1939–1940. In the second half of the 1930s, the CIAME medical staff acquired experience in military medicaltraining and medical care in combat conditions, which proved invaluable during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.