AHEC Helps Establish Family Medicine Clinic in Russia

A new Russian-American Family Medicine Clinic opened in September, and it is now providing community-based family medicine to patients in Volgograd.

This American-style medical clinic is the result of an eight-year educational exchange between Volgograd Medical Academy (VMA), headed by Rector Vladimir Petrov, M.D., and the Area Health Education Center (AHEC) program based at UAMS and led by Vice Chancellor Charles O. Cranford, D.D.S., M.P.A.

Dr. Cranford, who addressed the prestigious Pirogov Medical Congress in Moscow in June 2001, is a regular consultant of the AHEC-VMA Partnership.

“UAMS is proud to be a part of the health-care reforms taking place in Russia,” Cranford said. “In the U.S., we find that family medicine and specialty medicine work best in collaborating roles to provide optimum care to the patient.”

During opening ceremonies at the RussAm Clinic, Cranford acknowledged, “The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is privileged for this opportunity to work with Volgograd Medical Academy on community-based health care to benefit the people of Volgograd.”

The venture also includes two private business partners, Volgograd-based EMPO Medical Clinic, and a family physician, Gary Moffitt, M.D., of Lowell. Cranford facilitated the involvement of Dr. Moffitt and his Arkansas clinic in 2000, and it resulted in a partnership with the RussAm Family Medicine Clinic in Volgograd. Family physicians on the medical staff of the RussAm Clinic visit Arkansas to participate in programs sponsored by the Moffitt Clinic in Lowell as well as in the  UAMS AHEC program.

The AHEC-VMA Partnership is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the American International Health Alliance (AIHA), a Washington, D.C. based agency that administers international health-care exchanges for USAID. The AHEC-VMA Partnership receives support in the U.S. Congress from all Arkansas members.

In 1992, Dr. Petrov anticipated the need for VMA to become a leader in health-care system reform in southern Russia. Petrov began developing a transition to community-based family medicine that would make primary care more accessible to the general population.

Between 1993 and 2000, more than 100 faculty exchanges between UAMS and VMA have strengthened the number of family physicians available in the region. These exchanges resulted in the first VMA Family Medicine Department in 1994. In 1995, the new VMA Family Medicine Department started recruiting medical graduates into family medicine. The VMA family medicine doctors and residents who received a part of their training in Arkansas AHECs in 2000-2001 are now the official medical staff at the new RussAm Family Medicine Clinic.

In the U.S., the community-based primary care approach is focused on diagnosis and treatment and is based on disease prevention and health promotion. The rationale is to help people stay well by avoiding known health risks — like smoking, excessive drinking, and risky behavior — while affirming healthful practices — like immunizations, environmental quality, and pre-natal care.

Family medicine “in the U.S. style” is gaining in popularity among Russians. With continued funding from USAID, UAMS will support Volgograd’s growing community of primary care providers.