A Century-Long Service: Training of Specialists in Particularly Dangerous Infections at the Premises of the Russian Research Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe”

The paper presents brief information on the organization, evolvement and modernization of the Department of Educational Programs and Training of Specialists at the Russian Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe” of the Rospotrebnadzor, the first specialized unit in the country to train personnel to work with pathogens of particularly dangerous infections, participate in research activities and anti-epidemic measures in Russia and abroad. The accumulated experience has made it possible to create an effective system for training specialists in microbiology, epidemiology, and laboratory diagnostics of particularly dangerous infections, combining traditional principles of developing skills and abilities in safely handling pathogens with modern information, methodological, and material-technical bases, minimizing the bio risk of educational technologies. Over the past decade, the department’s staff has been actively involved in international activities to train personnel for the CIS and foreign countries, including within the framework of the WHO Collaborating Center on responding to sanitary and epidemiological emergencies at the Russian Anti-Plague Institute “Microbe” of the Rospotrebnadzor. An analysis of the current stage of the department’s activities has made it possible to draw plans and outline the prospects for improvement.