• Universities

Kazan State Medical University is a multidisciplinary higher education institution in Kazan, in the Tartarstan region of Russia.The university has a long history of academic prestige, and can trace its roots back to 1804, when Russian emperor Alexander the First gave the royal command for a university to be built in the Kazan region.In 1814, the faculty of medicine was opened at the newly inaugurated Kazan Emperor University – which would eventually become the Kazan Medical Institute. The first anatomical theatre was opened at the university in 1837, designed in the style of Italian Renaissance medical theatres.The medical faculty separated from the university in 1930, eventually becoming Kazan State Medical University and gaining university status in its own right in 1994.The university’s main campus is on Butlerov Street in the centre of Kazan, where multiple libraries and a museum are located. Unlike some urban universities, it has its own halls of residence with six national and international student hostels.Between 5-6,000 students are currently enrolled in courses. Asides from medical biology, teaching at KSMU covers a range of subjects, including foreign languages, history, philosophy, political science and sociology.Alumni include Olympic double trap athlete Vasily Mosin and the Russian film star Ekaterina Skulkina.Students are encouraged to take part in sports and social clubs as part of their university experience. During weekends and term breaks, trips to the nearby Volga River are popular. Kazan – which translates as “cooking pot” in native Tatar – is a visitor attraction in itself: the city is at least 150 years older than Moscow, and has a rich cultural history with a mix of European and Asian influences.