Department of Normal and Pathologic Physiology

The Department of Normal and Pathological Physiology was organized on February 1, 2021, by merging two departments: Normal Physiology and Pathological Physiology.

History of the Department of Normal Physiology

The Department of Physiology was organized in 1992 as the Department of Human Physiology. It was one of the fundamental theoretical departments of Gomel State Medical Institute. The first organizer and the head of the Department of Human Physiology was Alexander Ivanovich Kienya, Doctor of Biological Sciences, Professor. 

He created his own original school of Belarusian physiologists. Under his leadership, the research project "Anthropophysiological characteristics of children living in areas contaminated with radionuclides" (included in the State Program "Human Ecology") was carried out. From 2001 to 2002, Alexander Ivanovich worked as Vice-Rector for Scientific Work at Gomel State Medical Institute.

The department's first staff prepared educational and methodological literature and acquired the equipment necessary for teaching second-year students of the Faculty of General Medicine. 

Since the formation of the department, the staff enthusiastically engaged in teaching and scientific work. A student scientific club was also organized. The main focus of the department's scientific research was the physical development of rural children in the Gomel region in the post-Chernobyl period.

In 2003, the Gomel State Medical Institute was renamed the Gomel State Medical University, and the department was renamed the Department of Normal Physiology.

Since the opening of the new faculties, Normal Physiology has been taught in the second year of study: since 2001, to students of the Faculty for Training Specialists for Foreign Countries; since the 2002 academic year, to students of the Faculty of Diagnostic Medicine; and since 2012, to students of the Faculty of Preventive Medicine. Since the 2008 academic year, the department has been teaching the subject in English for international students. 

From 2003 to 2011, the department was headed by Eduard Sergeevich Pitkevich, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor. 

He initiated agreements on creative collaboration with the Republican Center of Sports Medicine, institutes of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation (developers of nanoparticles and new antihypoxants).

In collaboration with the Gomel Regional Clinic of Sports Medicine for the first time in the republic, the Regional Scientific and Practical Center of Sports Medicine was organized under his leadership. This expanded the department's scientific research capabilities and provided examinations for highly qualified athletes — members of the national and Olympic teams of the Republic of Belarus, who undergo training in the Gomel region at the level of the Republican Center of Sports Medicine.

From 2011 to 2018, Natalya Ivanovna Shtanenko, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor, was the head of the department. 

During this period, collaboration with the Gomel Regional Scientific and Practical Center of Sports Medicine continued, and research was carried out within the framework of the priority areas of fundamental and applied scientific research in the Republic of Belarus: "Studying the mechanisms of athlete adaptation to training loads using multifactorial express diagnostics."

History of the Department of Pathological Physiology

The Department of Pathological Physiology was organized in 2001. Prior to this, the course "Pathological Physiology" was taught within the Department of Pathology. 

In 2001, after a reorganization, the Department of Pathology was transformed into two departments: Pathological Physiology and Pathological Anatomy.

In 2001, Tatyana Stanislavovna Ugolnik, Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor, became the first and only head of the Department of Pathological Physiology. She headed the department from 2001 to 2019. Under the leadership of T.S. Ugolnik, scientific research was conducted on the topics: "The role of endothelial dysfunction in impaired spermatogenesis during stress" and "Impaired liver function in male Wistar rats subjected to chronic stress." 

Since the department's organization the classes with third-year students of the Faculty of General Medicine on the subject "Pathological Physiology" have been held in the university's morphology building. 

Since the 2003 academic year, the department has been teaching pathological physiology to students of the Faculty of Diagnostic Medicine, and since 2013 - to students of the Faculty of Preventive Medicine. Students of the Faculty for the Training of Specialists for Foreign Countries have been studying at the department since 2002. Since the 2008 academic year, the department has been teaching the subject in English for international students. 

From 2018 to 2020, the departments of "Normal Physiology" and "Pathological Physiology" were part of the Department of Biology as courses.

From 2021 to the present, the head of the Department of Normal and Pathological Physiology is Svetlana Nikolaevna Samuseva, Candidate of Biological Sciences, Associate Professor.

Currently, under the guidance of Viktor Aleksandrovich Melnik, a Professor of the department and Doctor of Biological Sciences, a scientific research school is developing to study the formation of typological features of morpho-functional parameters of physical development in rural schoolchildren during the peripubertal period.

Currently, the department teaches two academic disciplines: "Normal Physiology" to first- and second-year students and "Pathological Physiology" to second- and third-year students from all faculties of the university. It also offers two elective courses: "Pathological Physiology" (30 hours) for students of the Faculty of International Students, and "Pathophysiology of Blood" for students studying in specialties “General Medicine” and “Medical Diagnostics”.