Infectious diseases

Profession

The educational process of infectious diseases goes back centuries. The idea of contagious disease such as plague, smallpox, cholera, and many others, originated in ancient peoples; long before our era, some simple precautions were already applied to infectious patients. However, these fragmentary observations and bold guesses were very far from truly scientific knowledge.
Already in Ancient Greece, some philosophers, for example, Thucydides, expressed the idea of living pathogens (“contagions”) of infectious diseases, but these scientists were not able to confirm their assumptions with any reliable facts.
The finest doctor of ancient times Hippocrates (about 460-377 BC) explained the origin of epidemics by the action of “miasma” — infectious fumes that can cause several diseases.
Pasteur developed vaccines for vaccinations against anthrax and rabies. Pasteur's great services to humanity will forever remain in the history of world science.

Educational Process

During residency training, future infectious diseases doctors gain the skills of diagnosing and treating infectious diseases, understanding variations of disease symptoms and characteristics of a specific pathology, participating in microbiological diagnostic studies, learning the basics of epidemiology and prevention of infectious diseases.
Disciplines: “Public health and healthcare”, ” Hygiene and epidemiology of emergencies (disaster medicine)”, “Pedagogy (pedagogical aspects in the activities of a doctor)”, “Pathology”, “Epidemiology (with the basics of evidence-based medicine)”, “Skin and venereal diseases”, “Laboratory practices”, ” Pathology of the Nervous System”, “Psychiatry (narcology)”, “Clinical pharmacology”.

Practice

Practice takes place in inpatient infectious diseases departments, clinics, General wards. Residents participate in local and international conferences, as well as organizing additional electives for students.

Career

Infectious disease specialists are medical doctors who work at infectious disease hospitals, specialized clinics for infectious diseases and primary care clinics. Some medical institutions specialize in certain infections (leprosy for example). In this profession, responsibility, tendency to constantly improve knowledge, self-confidence, the ability to quickly make the right decision, and empathy for patients are very important skills. In addition to anatomy, physiology, and other General medical disciplines, an infectious disease specialist must thoroughly understand the manifestations and course of infectious diseases, acquire knowledge of methods of diagnosis and treatment.