FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY AND INVESTMENTS INTO SCIENCE. HOW NATIONAL MEDICAL UNIVERSITY IS REFORMED

O.O. Bogomolets National Medical University earned about UAH 50 millions for last year on scientific work.

This was the record among Ukrainian higher schools. “The university will not save on scientific activity and educational process”, – tells the chief accountant of NMU Svetlana Voloshchuk about program of development, offered by rector Kateryna Amosova.

One of the main innovations is the new approaches in the process to take decisions about planning and distribution of money to perform the university reforms. “We now consider any structural division, faculty or department not separately but as an integral part of single system at medical university”, – underlines Voloshchuk. The vivid example for efficiency of the new approach is the changes in work of Institute of Hygiene and Ecology at NMU. Today this is the only structure of Ukraine, which is engaged into researches of environmental object as to content of remnants from chemical pesticides in food products, which can influence of human health status. The gross receipts for three years in reformation of the institute were increased by six times, and the net profit was UAH 49 millions. This money was sent to purchase of modern test equipment and experimental devices. The funds of other divisions at NMU are replenished. Thus, for the first time since establishment of pharmaceutical faculty in 1997 the new apparatuses, equipment, reagents and consumables were bought for researches in this direction. The higher school also performed the optimization and the areas, abandoned earlier, were engaged – after repair the laboratories and research divisions were located here. Thanks to such investments NMU now takes the first place among national higher schools due to the number of money, received from scientific activity – about UAH 50 millions were earned within the native walls.

However, the science is not the only priority as every year about 1,300 specialists graduated from the higher school, and in almost 14 thousands students, postgraduate students, resident medical practitioners, interns study at NMU. Hereby, more than one thousand and a half of them are foreign students. In order efficiently to provide with learning conditions and conditions for residence of students, the medical university joined to ProZorro system through which it purchase the equipment and services. Almost UAH 80 millions was spent for these purposes only last year. In particular, it is possible to save thanks to implementation of energy saving technologies. And while many higher schools let students go to study at home due to lack of money for heating, the schedule of study at National Medical University is not changed.

The reforms reflected on teaching staff: despite the traditional lack of budget financing, the teachers receive the salary and bonuses due to results from work in time. The students-winners in all-Ukrainian Olympiads are encouraged financially.

At university they say that there is no alternative to such changes – the science and educational process will remain the main points in program for reformation of higher school.