TRAINING OF CLINICAL LABORATORY PROFESSIONALS IN RUSSIA

In Russia, specialized education of clinical laboratory physicians who work in the positions of medical technologists, head of laboratory or one of its divisions is conducted in various forms of postgraduate tr aining, namely internship, primary specialization courses, advanced st udy courses, graduate clinical studies and postgraduate fellowship. Su ch education is offered at 14 Departments for Clinical Laboratory Diag nostics, which are located within the Institutes for Advanced Medical Studies or at Faculties for Advanced Medical Studies in Medical Instit utes, Until the present, the primary specialization courses and the ad vanced study courses have been the most prevalent forms of training cl inical laboratory professionals. These two types of courses offer form al lectures, seminars as well as practical classes, and the course con tents are regulated by a uniform curriculum promulgated by the Ministr y of Health. Training in these courses is the necessary prerequisite t o obtain degrees of advanced qualification as an expert in clinical la boratory diagnostics, which in turn provides access to better remunera ted positions.