Yerevan State Medical University

Currently, YSMU has seven faculties:

• Faculty of General Medicine
• Faculty Stomatology
• Faculty of Pharmacy
• Faculty of Public Health
• Faculty of Military Medicine
• Professional and Continuing Education Centre
• Dean's Office of International Student's Education

The chair of each faculty is the dean; the faculty committees manage each of them. The dean reports to the vice-Rector, who in turn reports to the rector. The current rector is Armen Muradyan, and the Chair of the Board is Armen Ashotyan.[6]

The University accepts applicants who have secondary (full), secondary vocational education with Armenian and foreign citizenship. There is no age limitation. Applicants should sit for written entrance exams in physics, chemistry and biology. They have a right to choose 2 out the 3 stated subjects. The results of admission examinations are confirmed by the decision of the Admissions Committee.

Foreign students should give a qualification exam and submit the results with other required documents to the university.[7]

The duration of the continuous and integrated educational program for bachelor's degree is six years in general medicine and military medical faculties and five years in the dental faculty. The duration of the Bachelor's Qualification Education Program is four years in the Faculty of Pharmacy.

Master's degree is offered in the following specializations:

• Medicine,
• Public Health and Health Care
• Pharmacy
• Medical work in the armed forces

The duration of the master's degree program in "Medical Work," "Medical Work in the Armed Forces" is for two years; in "Public Health and Public Health" is 1,5 years, and is one year in Pharmacy.

Further specialization in Post-Graduate studies are internships, clinical residencies and continuous vocational training (EMS). The duration of an internship is 11 months and is carried out in "General Practice Physician," "Stomatologist" and "Pharmacy" according to relevant programs. Graduates of Yerevan State Medical University are provided with an opportunity to skip internship and specialize in clinical residency programs.[8]

Foundation's faculty has 689 employees with a scientific degree, including 165 doctors of sciences, 524 candidates. As of December 2016, 28 post-graduate students and 96 applicants implement research activities in the fund.[9]

Yerevan State Medical University has international membership in:

• Association of Dental Education in Europe (ADEE)
• International Association of Universities (IAU)
• International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA)
• International Pharmaceutical Students Federation (IPSF)
• International Federation of Dental Students Association (IFDSA)
• SGroup European Universities' Network (SGroup)

It is also included in international educational and scientific program such as Tacis-Tempus and World Bank.[10] Cooperation agreements have been signed and reviewed between YSMU and various well-known medical universities in the CIS, Europe, Central Asia and the US, including:

• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
• Boston University School of Medicine, USA
• Cairo University School of Medicine, Egypt
• Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
• Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons, USA
• David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, USA
• Ernst von Bergmann Klinikum, Potsdam, Germany
• Georgia Neurosurgical Institute, Mercer University School of Medicine, USA
• Jönköping County Council, Sweden
• L’Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
• Open Medical Institute, American-Austrian Foundation
• Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov
• Stavropol State Medical Academy, Russia
• Tbilisi State Medical University, Georgia
• Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy
• Universitätsklinikum Düsseldorf, Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf
• University of Luebeck, Luebeck/Research Center Borstel, Germany
• University of Münster, Germany
• Université René Descartes Paris

A significant number of students have completed short-term and long-term internships abroad, which considerably promote the education of leaders in this period of globalization and internationalization.[11]

YSMU University Library is one of the most extensive libraries in Armenia and comprises over 65,000 textbooks and professional literature. There is a collection of research and academic materials of the medical library. The textbooks and professional literature are replenished by works authored by the university faculty and manuals, which are obtained from different countries.

There is also an online library comprising study materials, tests, and questionnaire, which are available to both students and interested people.[12]

More than 7000 future doctors currently study in the University. 24% of these students are international students from 26 countries all over the world. These countries include the United States, Russia, Germany, India, Israel, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Georgia, Great Britain, Greece, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Syria, Singapore, Australia, Poland, Sweden, China, France, Jordan, Cyprus, Lebanon and Sri Lanka.[14]

Tuition fees are different for different degrees. University students have a unique opportunity to receive different nominal scholarships. Some of the famous nominal scholarships are named after Mkhitar Herati, Ruben Sevak, Albert Mayrapetyan. There are also scholarships given by the Armenian Youth Foundation, Turpanjian Family, Aegean Family, and the Armenian Community for Armenian Students Foundation.[15]

The university has more than 1100 professors. They are responsible for lecturing classes, advising both graduate and undergraduate students, as well as conducting original research. 171 of the lecturers are doctors of sciences, 504 - science candidates. Seven academicians of the RA NAS perform scientific and pedagogical work at the University. This powerful scientific potential has a serious role in the development of medicine and related sciences in Armenia.[9]

YSMU's «University Honorary Doctor Award» was conferred to very remarkable and distinguished people.

• Tom Catena- Doctor in Sudan's Nuba mountains, the winner of Aurora prize[16]
• Princess Dina Mired of Jordan - The director general of King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF), the chairwoman of the Union of International Cancer Control, the Princess of Jordan[17]
• Bhairon Singh Shekhawat- Indian former vice-president [18]
• Hagop Kantarjian- Professor Hagop Kantarjian from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center[19]
• Agop Bedikian- Professor Professor Agop Bedikian from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center [20]
• Aaron Ciechanover- An Israeli biologist and winner of the Nobel prize in Chemistry [21]
• Klaus-Peter Hellriegel- Chairman of the Berlin Cancer Society, Secretary and Board Member of the German Society of Hematology and Oncology[22]
• Nirmal K.Ganguly- President, Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education[23]
• Leo Bokeria- Cardiologist, heart surgeon, professor, academician, Head of Bakulev Scientific Center of Cardiovascular Surgery, Russia[24]
• Philippe Jeanty- Scientist in the field of prenatal diagnosis, the founder of prenatal echocardiography [25]
• Edgar M. Housepian- a renowned neurosurgeon, professor [26]
• Levon Nazarian- Professor and Vice Chairman of the Department of Radiology and the Residency Program Director at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia[27]
• Leonid Roshal- Chairman of International Charity Fund to Help Children in Disasters and Wars, expert for the World Health Organization[28]

Many ASSR Health ministers were graduates of YSMU: Simeon Lazarev, Babken Astvatsatryan (1927), Stepan Chshmarityan (1930), Armenak Khrimlyan (1930), Zakhari Narimanov (1947), Emil Gabrielyan (1954), Artashes Aznauryan (1964). The Ministry of Healthcare of RA has had ten ministers who graduated YSMU: Mihran Nazaretyan (1962- 1967); Ara Babloyan (1965-1971); Gagik Stamboltsyan (1975-1980), Hayk Nikogosyan (1973-1978); Ararat Mkrtchyan(1973-1978); Norayr Davidyan (1966-1972); Harutyun Kushkyan (1974-1980); Derenik Dumanyan ( 1972-1978); Armen Muradyan (1989-1995), Levon Altunyan(1979-1985). Former RA Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan is also YSMU alumni. Current RA Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs Hrachya Rostomyan has been a student of YSMU from 1998 to 2006.

• Ara Babloyan- President of the National Assembly of Armenia[29]
• Levon H. Badalyan - Pediatric neurologist, the founder of the first pediatric neurology department in USSR [30]
• Bagrat Alekyan- Cardiac surgeon, President of Russian Scientific Society of Endovascular Surgeons and Interventional Radiologists [31]
• Evrik Afrikyan- Bacteriologist, past vice-president of All-Union Society of microbiology (USSR)[32]
• Aramayis Grigoryan- Surgeon, professor of medicine, First Moscow State Medical University, past scientific secretary of All-Union Society of surgeons, USSR [33]
• Gurgen Pashinyan- Chairman of department of forensic medicine, Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, leader and executor of forensic dental examination to identify the remains of the family of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II and his entourage [34]
• Bagrat Sargsyan- Chairman of department of forensic medicine, professor of medicine, Altai State Medical University, Russia [35]
• Lev Piruzian- Soviet medical biophysicist.Corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR[36]
• Samuel Badalian- The Director of the Gynecology and Urogynecology Center of Syracuse, NY [37]
• Emil Gabrielian- Pharmacologist and Surgeon, Minister of Health of Armenian SSR [38]
• Ivan Gevorgian- The chairman of the Department of Surgery of Yerevan State Medical Institute from 1952-1979[39]
• Vigen Bakhshinyan- Head of Cochlear Implant Center, National Research Center for Audiology and Hearing Rehabilitation, Moscow, Russia[40]
• Alla Grigoryan- Medical Director of Liver Transplant Program, University of Kentucky, Lexington, USA Assistant Professor of Medicine[41]
• Kristina Simonyan- Director of Laryngology Research, Harvard Medical School[42]
• Karine Sargsyan- Head of the Biobank Graz, Medical University Graz (Scientific Director of BioPersMed)[43]
• Rouzan G. Karabakhtsian- Associate Professor of Pathology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine and attending Pathologist at Montefiore Medical Center[44]
• Bella Qocharyan- the former First Lady of Armenia
• Rafael Minasbekyan- The head of the business direction "Cinema and television. Production, rent, distribution » in Gazprom-Media Holding JSC[45]
• Ruben Jaghinyan- Chairman of the Council of Public TV and Radio Company of Armenia
• Vahan Artsruni- Armenian rock musician, singer, composer and artist
• Garik Martirosyan- comedian, TV host, actor
• Bharath Reddy- Indian Film actor, cardiologist