MEDICAL PROFESSION IN THE USSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040579-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 579
• Publication Date: October 30, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

CLASSIFICATION copFx~i,AL/i~itto
CENTRAL IRTELLIGENCE AGENC'f
INFORMATtOM REPORT
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SI;rPCEMEMT TO
1. Q. Compaz~ the status, privileges, emolmments, etc, of people is ailitary
medicine and r..ivil. medicine.
L.reaEed tc, 1.'~vC` rnb
by almost three t as a doctor isi civil
of capta{:~ (F}~xsi :inn Ord Grade) and tray ?paid 850 rubles pe~~
pay ac~ale of Soviet medic 1 sea is o! men in
civil medicine. stop salary
sad, therePrare, their status, privileges and pay differ.;greatllr. The
the stai.eY the S~+viet Government does not conslder them as vital to its
A. 51nce the USS2t is a police state sad the ruling alas, Communist Party
2. Q. Give tb_~ p~-?ofessiunel status, if say, of people engaged in dentistry.
_ -'1l ..
A. Tne;=civil 9;cd milltary dentists (Zubnoy Vrach), vho perfoa ertractions sad
Pi~llizzgs cnl~ do not have a compan~ive socLl ataadiag, salary or pref-
e~rential tre~~nt Srith t?ie ssdical profession is .the int. They are gives
.fear years a training sa cas-p+red to five for the doctors. The dental
aurge?e (St t+~le~) en~eya equal ataodia8-:..a-~o2umaata with p~sicisna
and his cour~ a of training is also fire years.
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3. Q. What special. political indoctrination, if .any, is q~.ven to members of the
onl four ha
2~ h'ours' a ~yurs e,dstiy. In` time of
r?quiredmtoiworkdforoas loaaeaattPie ~ ervices wer~'~d ware, of course,
it a ne~de8?. liar instanrw
medicsi profession, besides regular ~mmunist Part?? history,coursee?
A. ri~o special political indoctrination xas given to-members of the medical
profession. We were s e
xces'sive amount of political in-
doctrina?ion, pro da,aad ~ to ~
pagan agitation, ,along with everronc else.
Q. What was the actual trorkload of tie average'medi'cal doctor?
A. In peacetlme both civil an3,militarf'medical doctors were .required to work
eight ho~irs a day, with-the exception oi? those who wnrkediarouad Z-rsy equip-
prior to
exhaustion overtook us; xe would then rant fpr several h~ure'and start all
,over again.
5? Q? why da people become doctors? What are the reward@ and what triad of people
become doctors?
A. People 1:. the U88R certainly do sot become-civil doctors for the high pa,-,
because most laborer? earn far more than they d.o. Therefore, I would say
their motiyatioaa are either humaai4 ,,?iaa+ia nature, havia~ a natural.ut~e
or calling to help others, or they desire the prestige that the medical pro-
fession offers the world over. In malty cases children of man ist the wadical
profession tend to follow their parents' profession Wn,}r younger
men go into the profession with the specific intent on o ecom military
doctors in the Soviet Army, where the daily duties are lase divergent sad
demanding end the pay and privileges are much higher than in civil medicine.
6. Q. Are any classes of persons excluded from the medical profession2
A. Definitely so. The sons of lCulaks,relatives of political prisoners and
persona ~:onsidered at all unreliable because of Yamily background, status,
c1asR, etc, are excluded from the medical profession. In fact, such persons
are no*. allowed to get, any type of a higher education at all. It west be
pointed out, however, that in ].~? "non-proletariat family backgrounds
dating back to the days of the Ctar did not keep students from a higher
education. Records of the "bourgeois" backgrounds of students and early
offenses sgainst the state xere either lost or overlooked. li(sore recent,
later thaw 1930, violations and acts of a student. or his femi~y were the
determining factors in keeping a student from pursuing an education in the
medical field. Children oP Communist Party members and the proletarict
were the first to be accepted in any university, including medical
academies The next .priority was given to students who were recommended
by some party member er organization. If aRy vacancies still remained then
oahy weze students accepted on thew parsgnal merits alone?
7. Q. What are t.lie doctors' coaplaints against the present system?
__
A. The following are the doctors' ms~or compLiats.against the present system
in the U5SR:?
a. Desp:~te the fact that they are required to study for five yearn prior to
becoming a doctor,, supposedly have a certain amount of prestige sad are
required to uphold certain standards oP living because of their position
in the community, their pay it less than that of moat covens laborerr.
b. The Pact that theT are nod permittea freedom of private practice sad
reseas~ch, and the opportunity to express themselves.
CONFIDB~CI~ I~1lTi01(
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`"c~ Because they do not get. .the benefit of.,the research??f-the medicecl
profession, both in. near dxygs sad aethods, of other'couatries. ''~s3y
e not ermittPd to stt .gn medleal cbnfereaces trLere the
s i'r~e excha ~ ?P idea~ead Tar?'~ ,~ could 1Nra ire ~
ng sad fiY-d s sad arhere ag
the progress being made in vsrious fields o! a~edlcal zasesrch:,.'~
believe .that above all,'th~e 8o~iet professional sea?ra~eat ttre pew-
hibi.tion age~inat s tree cxchapge of ldeaa,? the freedost to trammel end
the ?reedom to exprer~ thesCSel~e?.
d. The deeper thirdring arrdical. practitioners who practise eager tLe Soti~t
~yetem and is ysrticulsir those,who have observed;,tLsit,the tLeories oS
condition ahd response, vhic,h are a must in the Soviet ihrioa:~he.B=A
Theory which excludes or denies 8IH -, Stimulus Tate?gtrtioa HespOOrua~
Bare most diebasteSul to physicians w3ro,in practiciag..their~eNdiciae
raaliQe the-t womething `ouch :deeper-.tLxa the ma'ttY1i11Polc' coac~ptr of
man. eaciet, namely. mind I-ad .spirit or, soul. ~'or that rearoa thrt" ~r
think,~.n8 phYsieitns abhor ~ phllosopLicnl.ap~roach, based p~Z,Y oa'
matter. ~~ virtue of tLs materialistic ' philosophyr atast a~tatioasd, the
Boviet state precluder the possible exi~teace,of.the above iaaterial
coercepts arith ttia. cbalaQwaee-float no.physieiaa ir, ttad to en~t?:,
in practices which swat' !a tqy w.yr be latrrpretsd ~b %tats antho~riti~s)
ae tsYliag within tho?realm of '~MS~choaosly~is'aad subsagnsat' Pyrehothers~pr.
8. ?~ does h~becrosbrphiloEOphi~~tioas'la thr'suppl~r"bl tacilitiis~tio patiait~, or
aver
oas a e supp o owlet aaautaeturad mediesri
fsci~litiee. Since ve in the adicai profession imew aothias o! the madieal.
progress and new "~roader drugs" of the free world, w conid sot haA rhss~otmd
not Laving the benefits thereofo Besides, w wrs coastsat~jr !alo:.ed that
Boviet medical progress sad products xere tar ahead oP other nations.
4- ~. Dose th~+ averege doctor vent Co improve hie servicesY
A. .The sverage doctor in .the U98R, se in this country, is ever studying tp ilq~rove
tats. services.
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