The Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Medical Rehabilitation, Restorative and Sports Medicine was established in October 2012. The Center successfully brought together the previously existing Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Sports Medicine, the Specialized Clinical Hospital for Restorative Treatment, and City Hospitals No. 10 and 45. In addition, it incorporated as branches the outpatient clinics for restorative treatment and the medical and sports dispensaries, 19 branches in total. By now, the Center has become a major research and clinical institution with modern technological capabilities for addressing priority issues in its field.
We are speaking with the Director of the MSPC, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Nikolayevich Razumov, who has headed the institution since its founding. It was largely thanks to his efforts that the new scientific and medical specialty of “Restorative Medicine” was introduced into domestic healthcare. The scientist also developed the fundamental and applied issues of balneology, restorative medicine, and medical rehabilitation, which became the basis for the concept of state policy for the development of spa and resort activities in the Russian Federation approved by the Ministry of Health. This document outlines the systemic infrastructure of preventive medicine, modern technologies for preserving and improving health, effective methods of health promotion, and new approaches to the organization of sanatorium and resort care.
— Alexander Nikolayevich, what is the main target of restorative medicine?
— This field of medico-biological knowledge is developing rapidly both in the theoretical substantiation of the possibility of strengthening and preserving health, increasing professional longevity and life expectancy by enhancing the functional reserves of the human body, and in practical terms — in the development of a system of nonpharmacological therapy for common diseases and medical rehabilitation of the consequences of intensive drug treatment and surgical interventions.
— What are the Center’s scientists working on, and what is its staff like?
— The research work carried out at the MSPC is performed within the framework of a comprehensive target scientific program for 2014–2016, titled “Scientific Foundations for the Organization of the Medical Rehabilitation, Restorative and Sports Medicine Service and the Provision of Specialized Medical Care in Medical Rehabilitation and Sanatorium-Resort Treatment for the Population of Moscow.”
The priorities of the scientific developments are arranged as follows: programs for the medical rehabilitation of patients who have suffered acute cerebrovascular accidents, traumatic brain injuries, postoperative spinal surgery, radical breast surgery, the consequences of joint replacement, and much more. Programs for the recovery of athletes after injuries and intense physical exertion have also been developed and implemented in practice.
In 2014, an Agreement on conducting international scientific research on radon therapy (Austria) was prepared.
Over the two years of its existence, a team with high scientific potential has been formed: it includes two academicians, 13 professors, 28 Doctors of Science, and 34 Candidates of Science. Eleven research departments have been organized and are functioning, their main tasks being the development, scientific substantiation, and implementation into clinical practice of new technologies in medical rehabilitation, restorative and sports medicine.
In August 2013, a dissertation council was established at the MSPC, accepting dissertations for defense for the academic degree in the specialty “Restorative Medicine, Sports Medicine, Therapeutic Exercise, Balneology and Physiotherapy.” At present, twelve applicants for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences and two applicants for the degree of Doctor of Medical Sciences are attached to the Center.
— Please tell us about the Center’s educational activities.
— The entire arsenal of accumulated knowledge and the results of scientific research in the field of restorative medicine are used not only in practical work, but also in teaching. The federal license for educational activities allows us to train physicians in clinical residency and postgraduate studies, and to provide instruction under additional professional education programs for employees with secondary or higher medical education.
The MSPC trains scientific and teaching staff both for its own team and for other institutions in the country (Penza), as well as for neighboring countries (Kazakhstan). An agreement has been concluded to train physicians at the Institute of Rehabilitation of the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia, and joint educational programs for physicians have been developed.
The clinical facilities are equipped with modern equipment, including robotic technology. The presence of a range of natural and artificial physical therapeutic factors enables specialists to develop professional skills in conditions that match real-life practice. International experience is widely used.
Postgraduate training is offered in restorative medicine and pediatrics, and residency training is offered in exercise therapy and sports medicine, traumatology, physiotherapy, neurology, and pediatrics. Special mention should be made of the programs for physicians’ professional retraining and advanced training. Training is provided in the following specialties: exercise therapy and sports medicine, physiotherapy, manual therapy, reflexology. There are advanced training courses in medical rehabilitation for various pathologies, short-term courses on topical issues in medical rehabilitation and sports medicine. The center also offers advanced training programs for nursing staff. On request from healthcare institutions, off-site courses are conducted.
Upon completion of training, the following standard documents are issued: diploma of professional retraining, specialist certificate, certificate of advanced training.
— It is known that problems of sports medicine are also in the focus of your institution.
— Yes, at the MNPC more than 250,000 professional athletes undergo examinations every year. The specialists of the sports medicine clinic have developed and implemented into practice many programs for the rehabilitation of athletes after injuries and intense physical exertion.
It should be noted that the Center’s staff took direct part in organizing the medical support for the XXII Winter Olympic Games and the XI Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi. 140 of our doctors and nursing staff were sent to the city’s clinics serving Russian and foreign Olympians. During the Games, 8,100 people sought medical assistance at Olympic venues. Two thirds of all requests were handled by medical organizations staffed by Center employees. In 99 out of 100 cases, medical assistance was provided on site, and more than 1,300 physiotherapy procedures were carried out. The medical support for the 2014 Olympic Games, whose main organizers were MNPC First Deputy Director Zurab Givievich Ordzhonikidze and Head of the Sports Medicine Clinic Viktoria Aslanbekovna Badtiyeva, was highly praised by the International Olympic Committee, the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, and the Moscow City Hall.
At present, the Center continues to take part in an international study of skiers from Norway, Russia, and Switzerland.
Gennady Gabrielyan