According to the decree, the Kyrgyz State Medical Academy named after I.K. Akhunbaev received the status of a system-forming state university, which will have exclusive rights to train specialists with higher medical and pharmaceutical education, as well as to retrain and upgrade the qualifications of medical personnel.
Changes in the Education System
According to the new norms, mandatory state accreditation will be introduced for all educational programs in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals, including secondary, higher, postgraduate, and additional education. Educational institutions that do not pass accreditation will not be able to enroll students or issue state-recognized diplomas.
A state franchise system will be implemented: private medical educational institutions are required to cooperate with the system-forming state university. This means they will use state educational programs, teaching materials, and standards, and will be subject to methodological and academic control by the base university.
State authorities will strengthen control over the quality of medical personnel training. Responsibility for licensing, supervision, monitoring, and evaluation of educational organizations will be transferred to the relevant Ministry of Health.
Principles of the New System
Educational institutions that do not pass accreditation will not be able to conduct training in medical and pharmaceutical specialties. Private educational institutions that successfully pass accreditation must enter into an agreement with the system-forming university, which will control the educational process.
Monitoring and evaluation of the quality of training for doctors and pharmacists will be carried out by the Ministry of Health. Only organizations with licenses from the health authority will be able to conduct educational activities in the field of medicine and pharmaceuticals.
Internship and residency programs will be implemented only by accredited educational institutions and clinical facilities. Graduates who complete their internships will be assigned the corresponding specialty.
The new requirements also affect the material and technical base of private medical educational organizations and clarify the powers of state authorities in regulating all aspects of medical education. The Cabinet of Ministers must align its regulatory acts with the law within three months.
Text of the Law
Article 1
Amend the law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On the Licensing and Permitting System in the Kyrgyz Republic" (Bulletin of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, 2013, No. 9, Art. 990):
1) Part 1 of Article 31 shall be supplemented by paragraph 10 as follows:
“10) failure to pass state accreditation by the licensee (educational organization) implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional and/or additional education in the field of health care.”;
2) Article 32 shall be stated in the following wording:
“Article 32. Termination of the License and/or Permit
If the reasons for which the licensor suspended the license are not eliminated, the license and/or permit shall be annulled by a court decision based on the licensor's application, except for educational activities in the field of medical and pharmaceutical education.”
Article 2
Amend the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Science" (newspaper "Erkin-Too" dated August 15, 2023, No. 65) as follows:
1) In Article 9:
a) Part 1 shall be stated in the following wording:
“1. Scientific and scientific-technical organizations are legal entities engaged in scientific, scientific-technical, and scientific-innovative activities that correspond to the goals and objectives provided for in the charter of this organization, not contradicting the legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic, except for scientific organizations conducting scientific activities in the field of health care. Scientific organizations may carry out scientific activities in the field of health care based on mandatory state accreditation in the manner determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic.”;
b) The first paragraph of Part 4 shall be stated in the following wording:
“4. To ensure the quality of the activities carried out and compliance with modern requirements, scientific and scientific-technical organizations are subject to state certification, except for scientific organizations conducting scientific activities in the field of health care.”;
2) In Article 19:
a) Point 1 shall be stated in the following wording:
“1) formation and implementation of state policy in the field of science, scientific-technical, scientific-informational, and scientific-innovative activities, implementation of intersectoral coordination in the field of science, scientific-technical, scientific-informational, and scientific-innovative activities, except for scientific organizations conducting training of scientific personnel in the field of health care;”;
b) Points 16 and 17 shall be stated in the following wording:
“16) determination of the procedure for conducting state certification/accreditation of scientific-technical organizations, except for scientific organizations conducting training of scientific personnel in the field of health care;
17) determination of the procedure for appointing and dismissing heads of research institutes of higher professional educational organizations, except for scientific organizations conducting training of scientific personnel in the field of health care;”.
Article 3
Amend the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On Education" (newspaper "Erkin-Too" dated August 18, 2023, No. 66) as follows:
1) In Article 3:
a) Supplement with point 15¹ as follows:
“15¹) state accreditation of medical educational organizations — recognition by the authorized state body in the field of health care of the compliance of the educational services provided for the implementation of educational programs in medical and pharmaceutical specialties of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional education with the accreditation requirements and criteria established by the Cabinet of Ministers;”;
b) Supplement with point 45¹ as follows:
“45¹) educational franchise — a system of contractual relations within which a state educational organization grants a non-state educational organization the right to carry out educational activities according to educational programs approved by the state educational organization using its teaching and methodological materials, standards, and brand;”;
2) In Article 13:
a) Point 1 shall be stated in the following wording:
“1) formation and implementation of state policy in the field of education, strategies for the development of the education system, determination of priorities in the field of education, except for programs, training models, and educational processes of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and additional education in the field of health care;”;
b) Point 8 shall be stated in the following wording:
“8) monitoring and organization of quality assessment of formal education, except for the activities of educational organizations with the status of a system-forming state educational organization, the assessment of which is carried out by the authorized state body in the field of health care in the manner determined by the Cabinet of Ministers;”;
3) Article 17 shall be supplemented by Part 8 as follows:
“8. In order to control the quality of educational services provided, non-state medical educational organizations that have passed accreditation in the established manner must conclude an agreement on educational franchise or administration of academic and methodological management of the training process for medical and pharmaceutical specializations, additional education in the field of health care with the educational organization with the status of a system-forming state educational organization.
The procedure for providing services under the educational franchise or administration of academic and methodological management of the training process for medical and pharmaceutical specializations is determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.”;
4) Part 6 of Article 18 shall be supplemented by the following sentence: “At the same time, the charter of the educational organization with the status of a system-forming state educational organization is approved by its founder in the manner determined by the civil legislation of the Kyrgyz Republic.”;
5) Parts 5 and 7 of Article 22 shall be supplemented with the word “health care,” after the words “in the field of”;
6) In Article 23:
a) Point 2 of Part 2 shall be stated in the following wording:
“2) state educational organizations implementing programs of higher and postgraduate professional education, possessing special status, except for educational organizations implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and/or additional education in the field of health care;”;
b) Supplement with Part 6 as follows:
“6. Licenses for the right to conduct medical and pharmaceutical educational activities are issued by the authorized state body in the field of health care.”;
7) In Article 24:
a) Supplement with Part 1¹ as follows:
“1¹. Educational organizations implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and/or additional education in the field of health care are subject to mandatory state accreditation in the manner determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Educational organizations implementing the specified programs and not having passed state accreditation do not have the right to issue state-recognized education documents to graduates and to enroll students.”;
b) Part 2 shall be stated in the following wording:
“2. An educational organization, except for educational organizations implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and/or additional education in the field of health care, is independent in choosing the accreditation agency. Accreditation is conducted at the expense of the accredited educational organization.”;
8) Article 29 shall be supplemented with Part 4¹ as follows:
“4¹. An educational organization with the status of a system-forming state educational organization has exclusive rights:
to train specialists with higher medical and pharmaceutical education, retraining and upgrading the qualifications of medical and scientific personnel;
to provide services in administering academic and methodological management of the training process for medical and pharmaceutical specializations.”;
9) The third paragraph of Part 5 of Article 57 shall be stated in the following wording:
“State educational organizations of primary and higher professional education, possessing special status and the status of a system-forming state higher educational institution, have the right to independently, in agreement with the supervisory board, dispose of (alienate, change, lease) the material and technical base acquired at their own expense.”;
10) Article 59 shall be supplemented with Part 12 as follows:
“12. Private educational organizations implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and/or additional education in the field of health care must have buildings, structures, equipment, and other necessary property under ownership.”.
Article 4
Amend the Law of the Kyrgyz Republic "On the Protection of Citizens' Health in the Kyrgyz Republic" (newspaper "Erkin-Too" dated January 19, 2024, No. 5) as follows:
1) Part 1 of Article 10 shall be supplemented by points 20 and 21 as follows:
“20) formation and implementation of state policy on programs, training models, and educational processes implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and additional education in the field of health care;
21) monitoring and evaluation of the quality of the activities of the educational organization with the status of a system-forming state educational organization in the training of medical and scientific personnel.”;
2) Article 18 shall be stated in the following wording:
“Article 18. Medical and Pharmaceutical Education, Medical and Pharmaceutical Science
The authorized state body in the field of health care issues licenses for educational activities to educational organizations implementing programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and additional education in the field of health care.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, the training of medical workers is carried out in accordance with the state order of the authorized state body in the field of health care, which conducts annual monitoring of the use and movement of medical personnel in health care organizations regardless of their departmental subordination and forms of ownership.
The implementation of programs of secondary, higher, postgraduate professional, and additional education, training of scientific personnel in the field of health care is carried out by the educational organization with the status of a system-forming state educational organization. At the same time, educational organizations may implement the specified programs based on passing mandatory state accreditation in the manner determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Quality management, control, and supervision of the training of medical and pharmaceutical workers in educational organizations regardless of their departmental subordination and forms of ownership are carried out by the authorized state body in the field of health care based on the results of state accreditation.
Heads of state educational organizations implementing programs of secondary and higher professional education in the field of health care are appointed and dismissed in the manner established by the Cabinet of Ministers.
Management of subordinate medical research organizations, higher medical and pharmaceutical educational institutions, organizations for the advanced training of medical and pharmaceutical workers, coordination of research work in the field of health care, and organization of training of highly qualified scientific personnel for the health care system are carried out in the manner established by the Cabinet of Ministers.”;
3) Part 1 of Article 19 shall be stated in the following wording:
“1. Educational activities in the field of health care are carried out in organizations of medical and pharmaceutical education, scientific organizations in the field of health care, and other educational organizations implementing educational programs in the field of health care, based on passing state accreditation.”;
4) In Article 155:
a) Part 2 shall be supplemented after the word “master's” with the word “, postgraduate”;
b) Part 3 shall be stated in the following wording:
“3. The acquisition of additional knowledge and skills by specialists in the field of health care is carried out through additional education in organizations implementing educational programs of additional education based on a license and having passed state accreditation.
The procedure for providing additional education in the field of health care, qualification requirements for organizations implementing educational programs of additional education in the field of health care are determined by the Cabinet of Ministers.”;
5) In Article 156:
a) Part 1 shall be stated in the following wording:
“1. Internship — implementation of internship programs carried out in educational organizations that have a license for the right to conduct educational activities, have passed state accreditation, as well as in health care organizations designated by the authorized state body in the field of health care as clinical bases. Internship programs are implemented in medical specialties, the list of which is approved by the authorized state body in the field of health care. After completing the internship, the graduate who has undergone assessment of the level of professional training is assigned a specialty.
Programs of educational practice for internships in accordance with the qualification level requirements established by professional standards in the field of health care are determined by the state educational organization of higher professional education that has the status of a system-forming state higher educational institution.
The rules for issuing state orders, enrolling in training, and training medical personnel in internships are approved by the authorized state body in the field of health care.”;
b) The third paragraph of Part 2 shall be stated in the following wording:
“Internship educational practice programs in accordance with the qualification level requirements established by professional standards in the field of health care are determined by the state educational organization of higher professional education that has the status of a system-forming state higher educational institution.”.
Article 5
The law shall enter into force ten days after its official publication.
The Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic must align its regulatory acts with this Law within three months.
President of the Kyrgyz Republic S. Japarov
