VSMU's health-saving project received a gold medal at the "Brand of the Year – 2016" competition

The honorary award was presented to the authors and participants of the social initiative by Anatoly Shchastny, member of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, Rector of the university, at the solemn meeting dedicated to summing up the year's results of VSMU.

– The partners of this interdisciplinary project also include the Main Department of Ideological Work, Culture and Youth Affairs of the Regional Executive Committee, the Committee for Labor, Employment and Social Protection of the Population of the Regional Executive Committee, the Belarusian Republican Gerontological Public Association, and the Vitebsk Branch of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, – said Tatyana Olenskaya, Dean of the People's Faculty "Health Preservation", Head of the Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor (pictured). – Within the framework of the Year of Culture, we focused on ethno-rehabilitation, as the Belarusian language, folk dance, national traditions and crafts, such as weaving, willow and straw weaving, can act as ergotherapy tools. We held joint events with folk art masters of the Cultural and Historical Complex "Golden Ring of Vitebsk 'Dvina'", craftsmen from Orsha, specialists from the Gorodok House of Culture, participated in fairs and master classes, where we examined the commonality of health culture of Belarus and Russia, as well as traditional Chinese medicine.

Tatyana Leonidovna noted that the main goal of the project and the faculty's work as a whole is to motivate people to lead a healthy lifestyle and to introduce them to modern diagnostic and rehabilitation technologies in practice. Currently, a group of older people is studying at VSMU, but a program for listeners from the working-age population is also being developed.

In addition to the Gold Medal "Brand of the Year — 2016", the Faculty of "Health Preservation" also

received the Grand Prix in the "Volunteering in Healthy Lifestyles" nomination for the medico-social project "Sanatorium at Home". The achievements of the Department of Medical Rehabilitation, on the basis of which these initiatives are implemented, were also noted by the university administration: in 2016 its team became the winner in the "Department of the Year" nomination.

Summarizing the results of VGMU's work in 2016, Rector Anatoly Shchastny awarded the best teachers, students, staff, and structural divisions of the university, and also presented certificates to the winners of the intra-university startup grant for young scientists.

The winner of the honorary title "Person of the Year 2016" according to VGMU was Viktor Rednenko, Head of the Practical Training and Simulation Learning Center. The scientists of the year at the university were recognized as Irina Gorodetskaya, Dean of the Faculty of General Medicine, Professor of the Department of Normal Physiology, and Vladislav Podpalov, Head of the Department of Therapy No. 1 of the Faculty of Professional Development and Retraining.

The best inventor of the university was named Arina Kabanova, Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatric Dentistry and Maxillofacial Surgery, who developed a new method for cheiloplasty reconstruction for congenital cleft lip. Among the young researchers, Natalia Korozhan, Associate Professor of the Department of Pharmacognosy with a course in Professional Development and Retraining, became the winner. She substantiated the use of Bidens tripartita and created a new combined agent based on it with antiallergic activity and immunomodulatory effects.

– 2017 has been declared the Year of Science in our country. I believe this will not only enhance the prestige of scientists but also help solve important socio-economic problems. I hope that in the future, scientists will become the calling card of Belarus, – emphasized Anatoly Shchastny.

Natalia Kamleva. Photos by Dmitry Osipov. "Vitebskiye Vesti".