POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL EDUCATION IN UKRAINE

Abstract

Discussion of observations and interviews as to the state of postgraduate medical education in Ukraine during an informal discussion of author’s time as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar for the 2018-2019 academic years for the project titled Postgraduate Medical Education In Ukraine. The interviews with interns (85); attendings, program directors, hospital administrators (75), several medical students and others were recorded during numerous author’s visits and observations (50) to various Ukrainian hospitals. The conclusions made herein are my own and serve to report my observations on the state and quality of postgraduate medical training in Ukraine, reference to that in the United States and the author’s over 45-year practice as a surgeon in Illinois. This mainly concerns internships in the surgical specialties and subspecialties. Some suggestions as to how to change the system are presented.

Keywords

• postgraduate medical education; internship, the fulbright program, surgery