ANNIVERSARY OF THE CLINIC OF SAINT PETERSBURG STATE PEDIATRIC MEDICAL UNIVERSITY (HISTORICAL ESSAY)

Abstract

In 2025, the clinic of the the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation turns 120 years old. The development of the clinic from a children's city hospital to a multidisciplinary hospital is inextricably linked with the pages of the history of the country, which was going through the difficult times of the revolution, the Great Patriotic War, and the siege of Leningrad. The rapid development of the Vyborg Children's Hospital (it became so called in 1918) and its reorganization into the Research Institute of Maternal and Child Health named after K. Zetkin in 1925 made it possible to create a unique higher medical education institution — “Hospital–Medical University”. Close interaction between the clinic and science in the concept of "children's hospital — medical university" ensured the integration of educational, clinical, scientific and innovative activities necessary for the development of domestic healthcare. In 1935, the “Hospital–Medical University” was reorganized into the Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute (LPMI) — the first specialized institution in the world for training pediatricians from the student bench. A heroic page in the history of the clinic and the university were the years of the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. The Leningrad Pediatric Medical Institute and its clinic remained in Leningrad throughout the war and the blockade, giving all their strength to save the lives of children, of whom more than 400 thousand remained in the blockaded city. These pages of history are associated with the names of great pediatricians — Academician A.F. Tur, Professors Yu.A. Mendeleva, A.B. Volovik, S.S. Mnukhin. In the post-war years, the clinic rapidly developed and improved, new departments were created, progressive treatment methods were introduced. The development of pediatric and surgical care is due to talented doctors — pediatric surgeon Professor G.A. Bairov, pediatrician Professor I.M. Vorontsov and many others. A new round of development and improvement of the clinic of the Pediatric University occurred in the second decade of the XXI century, when the endocrine surgery center, the International Center for Pediatric Rheumatology were opened, and in 2013 — the Perinatal Center, on the basis of which neonatal, fetal surgery, cardiac surgery are successfully developing, allowing to provide timely assistance to children with various developmental defects. Celebrating its 120th Anniversary, the Clinic of the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University continues to be the largest multidisciplinary medical institution providing assistance to children of all regions of Russia based on the most powerful scientific potential and centuries-old traditions of the Leningrad school of pediatricians.