During the reign of Peter the Great and his successors most significant achievements in the field of public health in Russia took place. In order to train domestic doctors, especially for the army and navy, Peter I organized the training of the best representatives of Russia at the leading medical universities in Europe, and especially at the University of Leiden. He also created the first medical surgical schools in Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, close ties in the field of medicine between Russia and the Netherlands were established. A significant number of doctors, graduates of the Leiden University practiced in Russia and held very high positions in Russian medical services. This contributed to the advancement of advanced European technologies in the provision of medical services and medical education in Russia. Therefore the role of Dutch doctors in the development of Russian medicine in the Petrine era is extremely significant. Under their leadership, the first hospitals and medical schools were established, the first textbooks were developed in Russian and scientific research was conducted. The Academy of Sciences created by Peter the Great was the centre of scientific achievements of Imperial Russia.
This article presents the period of development of medicine in Russia from the beginning of the 9th century until the end of the 18th century. Before 1613, most of the population in Russia did not have access to qualified medical care and relied on traditional folk remedies. After conversion of Kievan Rus’ to Byzantium Christianity, monks provided basic medical care in the monasteries along with folk healers. At the same time, the ruling classes had access to qualified medical assistance, which was provided by foreign physicians. During the reign of Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov (1613–1645) many foreign doctors were invited to Russia, including representatives of the Netherlands, graduates of the Leiden University. The development of medical education in European areas was largely carried out by foreign doctors, in particular,doctors from Holland. Hermann Kaau-Boerhaave and Pavel Zakharievich Condoidi, Dutch representatives and graduates of the Leiden University played a particularly important role in the development of Russian Medicine in the 18th century. In 1654 the first medical school was opened in Russia. State institutions were established to organise and supervise the work of pharmacists, doctors medicinae and barber-surgeons. The treatment of patients in the 17–18th centuries advanced from primitive folk to more advanced methods based on science including surgical interventions.
Surgeon Nikolay I. Pirogov and Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna Romanova, née Württemberg, contributed substantially to the emergence of neutral organised care to soldiers during times of war and victims of epidemics. They closely cooperated in organising and training women as nurses to care for the wounded at the battlefront during the Crimean war. Russia became the first country to send trained nurses to the Crimea. They became a model for other women to train as nurses by the Red Cross. Their expertise was precious during the famine and cholera epidemics. During the Crimean war, Pirogov pleaded for the establishment of an international treaty to oversee the provision of medical help, including civilian volunteers, to both civilian and military victims of war, regardless of rank or nationality. Pirogov was a founder and Privy Councillor of the Russian Red Cross. Internationally he acted as Inspector-General for the Red Cross to report on the medical care in the Franco-German and Russian-Turkish War.
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