The festival has become a space where professional choice ceases to be an abstraction and turns into a living experience: through lectures, practice, excursions, interactivity and personal stories.
During the day, the University's key areas of study were presented in thematic tents and on the festival grounds: "Dentistry", "Clinical Psychology", "Psychology of Professional Activity", "Pediatrics", "Medical Science", "Pharmacy", "Medical Biophysics", "Medical Informatics", "Bioinformatics", "Fundamental medicine" and others. The student speakers shared their learning experiences and professional development, talking about the intricacies of their future profession. The festival also featured a panel discussion "Interns of the Year: Living Stories about Medicine, Education, Science, and Professional Development," which featured real-life stories of young doctors and researchers.
One of the significant events of the festival was the awarding ceremony for graduates of the tenth anniversary stream of the University School of Chemical Engineering.*Bio*Plus is an in—depth training program for students in grades 9-11, aimed at those who plan to connect their lives with medicine and enroll in leading medical universities in the country.
The educational project combines fundamental training in chemistry and biology with a practice-oriented approach, familiarization with modern achievements of medical science and the university environment. Over the years, the school has proven its effectiveness: more than 600 graduates of previous streams have become students at leading medical universities in Russia. For many participants, the program was the first step towards becoming a doctor, researcher, or healthcare professional.
At the ceremony, the graduates received well-deserved awards, and teachers and parents shared with them the joy of this important event. Each issue is a story of hard work, high results and a conscious choice of a future profession. It is symbolic that the graduation ceremony took place at the Pirogov Fest, a festival dedicated to finding a professional path, developing scientific interest and getting to know the medicine of the future.
The lecture "Accidental discoveries in medicine" by general practitioner and scientific journalist Alexey Vodovozov aroused great interest. The participants learned how unexpected observations, mistakes, and side effects became the basis for major medical breakthroughs, from antibiotics to modern medicines. Alla Bakeeva, Head of the Department for Work with Applicants, told the participants how to make an informed choice of educational trajectory, offered practical guidelines for admission, analyzed typical mistakes of applicants and stressed the importance of understanding their own strengths and building an individual admission strategy.
The festival included dozens of interactive and practical platforms: master classes on first aid and basic surgical skills, chemical experiments, an exhibition "The past, present and future of medicine", a film lecture hall of the project "Days of Scientific Cinema FUNK", a scientific quiz "Anatomy of Discoveries", consultations on admission, tours of the Campus, as well as sports and children's areas. Here you could not only learn about the areas of study, but also try yourself in various interactive formats.
Special attention at the festival was paid to the future of medical education. Pirogov University continues to develop and improve its educational model, remaining the only medical university in the country that has entered into a pilot project to improve the higher education system.
Already in the 2026/2027 academic year, the University is launching new profiles of basic educational programs, developed taking into account the current challenges facing Russian healthcare. Among them are tasks related to ensuring an active and long life, healthy longevity, improving demographic indicators and developing high—tech medicine.
The transformation of the education management system has led to the creation of new student support mechanisms. Instead of traditional faculties and dean's offices, organizational support for students is provided by the Department of Student Development and Support, and academic support is provided by curators and staff of specialized institutes that hold educational programs. This approach allows us to build a more flexible and personalized educational trajectory for each student.
The new educational profiles are focused on training specialists capable of working at the cutting edge of modern medicine and science. Future graduates will be able to realize themselves in the development of biotechnological and gene therapy drugs, in clinical practice, scientific research, as well as in high-tech areas of therapy, surgery and pediatrics.
Disciplines reflecting current industry development trends will occupy a special place in the updated programs. Among them are artificial intelligence technologies in healthcare, digital medical solutions, as well as issues of social adaptation and doctor—patient interaction. These areas will be presented, in particular, in the new pilot program "Fundamental Pediatrics", which is being implemented by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation.
Pirogov Fest has become a large-scale platform that unites schoolchildren, applicants, parents, students and teachers. The guests were able to feel the atmosphere of Pirogov University, ask questions, chat with students and teachers and see how life works inside the medical university.
The festival showed that choosing a profession in medicine is a path that begins with interest, develops through experience and is strengthened through live communication, mentoring and practice.
The video from the "Pirogov Fest" can be viewed at the link.
Photos from the event can be found in the album.
The Pirogov Fest festival was held within the framework of the Anatomy of Discovery project, aimed at popularizing scientific knowledge, developing a research culture and involving young people in the field of science and technology.
The event was held with the grant support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation as part of the initiatives of the Decade of Science and Technology aimed at strengthening the country's scientific potential and generating interest in research activities among the general population.