The Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology was founded in August 1958, the department was headed at that time by associate professor Redchenko I.O., who together with the staff of the department was engaged in its development. The main attention was paid to laying the foundations of educational and methodical, scientific, medical and educational work of the department.
Over the entire period of department functioning, currently counting 63 years, all 10 heads aimed at the only task – the education of medical professionals.
From 1960 to 1973, the department was headed by professor Ovchynnikova Mariia Dmytriivna – a talented teacher, scientist, a great doctor. From 1973 to 1976, the department was headed by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Leonid Ivanovych Tychynskyi. During this period, the priority area of scientific and medical work of the department is gynaecological endocrinology. On the clinical bases of the department consultations of thematic patients are performed, new diagnostic criteria of a number of gynaecological diseases are developed, the basis for which is a hormonal imbalance. In the period from 1972 to 1974, Professor I.N. Rambez worked at the department. He was a brilliant surgeon, author of many monographs and manuals on operative gynaecology, which to this day remain a kind of ABC for novice surgeons. From 1976 to 1985, the department was headed by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Mariia Kharytonivna Barkova, whose whole life is reflected in her words given by I.I. Taskaiev in the book At the Origins of Life (Omsk, 2004): “The work of obstetricians and gynaecologists is complex and multifaceted. He must have a cold heart and quick hands. He is responsible for 2 lives – of a mother and a child – in front of the family that trusted their doctor”. At this time the main direction of the department is the training and education of the young generation of obstetricians and gynaecologists, as well as improving the organization of obstetric and gynaecological care in the Luhansk region. Under the guidance of Professor Barkova M.Kh. specialized hospitals for providing medical care to pregnant women with extragenital pathology were organized, a department of paediatric gynaecology was opened in the regional children’s hospital, and specialized receptions for infertility, miscarriage, cervical pathology, etc. were opened in women’s clinics.
In the period from 1985 to 1991, associate professors Kapustina Valentyna Ivanivna (1985-1988), Nepochatova Emiliia Ivanivna (1988) and Hermanov Vladimir Tymofiiovych (1988-1991) consistently performed duties of head of department. During the years of their management, the department paid special attention to the practical training of students, mastering practical skills, expanding the organizational and methodical base of the department, strengthening the links and connections of the department with practical health care institutions.
From 1991 to 2006, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology was headed by a graduate of the Voroshylovgrad Medical Institute, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Petro Tadiiovych Leshchynskyi – a student of the outstanding Ukrainian scientist Professor Solskyi Ya.P. The main directions of research work of the department during this period are prevention of complications of pregnancy and childbirth in women of different ages, improvement of methods of treatment of miscarriage, perinatal gestational infections, abnormalities of contractile activity of the uterus. Under the guidance of Professor P.T. Leshchynskyi at the department conducted research, the traditional direction of which was the prevention of the most common diseases of the female genital area in women who permanently live in an environmentally unfavourable region of Donbas. Particular attention was paid to improving the methods of diagnosis and treatment of ingenious endometriosis in women of different ages. Under the guidance of Professor P.T. Leshchynskyi, 8 dissertations were successfully defended for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences at the department.
From 2006 to 2014, the department was headed by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Simrok Vasyl Vasylovych, who went from assistant to head of the same department. During his leadership, the department improved the methods of medical, scientific and educational work. Particular attention was paid to the improvement and implementation of treatment and prevention facilities in Luhansk and the region of modern endoscopic operations for combined benign uterine diseases, infertility, etc. Methods of prevention and treatment of severe preeclampsia, miscarriage, perinatal infections during pregnancy have been carefully developed and implemented in the practice of maternity hospitals. Employees of the department took an active part in conducting international research on the registration of new indications for drugs, studied the effectiveness of their action in comparison with traditional means and treatment regimens. Under the guidance of Professor V.V. Simrok 8 dissertations were defended for the degree of Candidate of Medical Sciences.
Since February 2015, the department is headed by Ph.D. in Medicine, associate professor Korniets Nellia Hryhorivna. Under her leadership at the Department, the research work on the topic of contemporary significance – miscarriages during pregnancy – has been carried out. The obtained results have been implemented in the practice of health care in a number of regions of Ukraine. In the period 2015 – 2020, in cooperation with the leading state institution “Institute of Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology named after O.M. Lukianova National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine” 2 Ph.D. dissertations have been performed and defended, one of which is devoted to the issue of chronic stress in pregnant and forcibly relocated persons from the zone of military conflict in eastern Ukraine.
At present, a departmental scientific study on the prevention of obstetric and perinatal complications in pregnant women with coronavirus disease is planned.
Areas of research of department staff have a very wide range and focus on reproductive health of female population of Ukraine, since the period of the newborn. Totally, during department existence, 51 dissertations were carried out, whose results are put into operation in many medical institutions of Ukraine. For the last 10 years alone, more than 60 proposals have been implemented, which have improved the consequences of childbirth for mothers and foetuses, the prognosis of the quality of life of gynaecological patients, the effectiveness of treatment and prevention of gynaecological diseases in children and adolescents. Regional councils of maternity care, analysis of cases of maternal and perinatal mortality, clinical examinations, participation in expert commissions, planned supervision of patients in cities and districts of the region is far from complete list of forms of participation of the department staff in medical work.
During all the years of the department’s existence, a lot of attention was paid to improving the organization of obstetric and gynaecological care in Luhansk region. In 1979, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of the Faculty of Advanced Training of Physicians was founded under the leadership of Candidate of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor V.I. Kapustina. From 1980 to 2005, the department was headed by Professor, Honoured Doctor of Ukraine V.V. Chub, since 2005 – by Professor S.S. Lubiana. The organization of the department began the planned continuous training (improvement) of doctors of Luhansk region on pre-certification courses and courses of thematic improvement. 100-120 doctors were trained annually. After several years of joint work of the department staff with doctors of practical health care institutions, maternal mortality decreased by 76%.
In November 2014, in connection with the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine and the relocation of SE “Luhansk State Medical University” to the territory controlled by Ukraine in the city of Rubizhne, the department began work in evacuation. The educational premises of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology are located on the basis of maternity wards and women’s clinics in Sievierodonetsk and Rubizhne. Since 2015, the department has resumed pre-certification training of obstetricians and gynaecologists in Luhansk region, training of interns, clinical residents and thematic courses in obstetrics and gynaecology.
One of the main and significant areas of the department is the theoretical and practical training of young professionals. Domestic and foreign students of 4-6 years are trained at the Department every year. The educational process of theoretical knowledge and practical skills is carried out with the assistance of innovative computer and simulation technology that facilitates integration into the European educational system. In 2020, during the pandemic the department developed methods of teaching the subject in terms of distance training of students, doctors-interns and doctors-trainees. Since the founding of the department, the staff has done a lot of work to encourage students to specialize in specialty “Obstetrics and gynaecology”. For this purpose, the department has a scientific society, where students have the opportunity to further study the subject, analyse and evaluate a certain condition in obstetrics and gynaecology, prepare and publish research results.