FOREIGN STUDENT GUIDE

CONTENTS

Introduction The system of assessment of knowledge About SMU • How will my knowledge be assessed? • History of SMU • Letter system for assessing students' learning achievements • Specialties • What is the summer paid semester • Administration of SMU and what is it for? • Dean’s office of the foreign department Social and cultural life Enrollment • Youth organizations • International students’ activity • What you need to do to enroll in • Social events SMU? • What documents should you submit Living in to enroll in SMU? • What do you know about • What is nostrification and why is it Kazakhstan? necessary? • What is special about Kazakh ? • Medical Foundation preparatory • Living in Semey – what does a international student need to know? Education system • Opening a Kazakhstan bank account • What is credit technology of Additional Information education? • Campus map • How to perform an independent student work? • Useful addresses where the classes take place

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DEAR STUDENT! You have made the right move by choosing Semey Medical University! You ask why? Let us explain!

Non-Commercial Joint-Stock Company “Semey Medical University” is one of the best medical universities in Kazakhstan with its own University Hospital

OUR MISSION: Contribution to improving the health of Kazakhstan population through quality training of competitive specialists by integrating best practices of education, clinics and science

OUR VISION: SMU is considered to be the pearl of Kazakhstan’s healthcare through the successful synthesis of education, science and practice

Are you interested to know about life and study at our university? Let's get started!

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OUR UNIVERSITY HAS A RICH HISTORY THAT WE ARE PROUD OF

 SMU was established in 1953  In 1995, a department of foreign students was organized here for the first time among medical universities in Kazakhstan. 43 foreign students from India, Pakistan, Palestine, Syria and Jordan were enrolled in the SMU for studying in various specialties  Since 1998, education is provided entirely in English  Our university became the first state medical institution in , where students had the opportunity to study in English  Today SMU is one of the largest higher medical educational institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan, which has its own University hospital, as well as branches in the cities of Pavlodar and Oskemen  Now more than 600 students from the countries of near and far abroad are studying in SMU  Over the years of existence at the university, tens of thousands of people have been educated, who successfully work not only in Kazakhstan, but throughout the world

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SPECIALTIES OF SEMEY MEDICAL UNIVERSITY

Here you can enroll in the following educational programs:

GENERAL MEDICINE (5В130100) Term of study – 6 years Professional subjects – Biology + Chemistry

NURSING (5В110100) Term of study – 4 years Professional subjects – Biology + Chemistry

PUBLIC HEALTH (5В110200) Term of study – 4 years Professional subjects – Biology + Chemistry

PHARMACY (5В110300) Term of study – 4 years Professional subjects – Chemistry + Biology

STOMATOLOGY (5В130200) Term of study – 5 years of bachelor + 1 year of internship Professional subjects – Biology + Chemistry

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WELL, IT'S TIME TO GET ACQUAINTED WITH OUR ADMINISTRATION!

Chairman of the Board – Rector Yersin Zhunussov (MD) Orthopedic Traumatologist, Public Health Doctor

First Deputy Chairman of the Board – Provost Rengin Erdal (Professor) Public Health Doctor, Family Medicine Doctor

Deputy Chairman for Academic Work Marat Zhanaspayev (MD) Traumatologist of the highest qualification category

Deputy Chairman for Scientific and Clinical Work Tolkyn A. Bulegenov (MD) Surgeon of the highest qualification category

Deputy Chairman for Strategy and Youth Policy Nurzhan Aidossov

Deputy Chairman for Organizational and Economic Work Andrey Barsukov

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STAFF OF SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dean of the School of Medicine Laura A. Pak PhD Oncologist

Vice-Dean Bakytgul T. Shakirova Master of Arts Philologist

Vice-Dean Assem K. Uristemova Master of Master of Economics and Business Manager in Healthcare

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WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO ENROLL IN SMU?

Submit your application Your application should be addressed to the Chairman of the Board – Rector and sent to the email address [email protected]. Attach a scanned secondary education certificate. For citizens of India, a scanned NEET certificate is required

Interview If your documents meet the requirements, we will contact you at the email address provided by you and set a date for the interview. The interview will be in online format and will include an assessment of the level of the English language and a psychometric test for compliance with the requirements for a medical student

The order of enrollment The order is issued by the Chairman of the Board – Rector after successfully passing the entrance exam, concluding an agreement on education and tuition fee for the 1st course with 100% prepayment

Invitation letter After your enrollment, the university will send you an invitation letter. For that you should send a scan of your passport via email ([email protected]) indicating the exact home address, place of birth, region of residence, and place of getting a visa

Obtain a student visa The visa is issued by the foreign institutions of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the basis of an invitation from the University within two weeks after it is submitted

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WHAT DOCUMENTS SHOULD YOU SUBMIT TO ENROLL IN SMU?

To be enrolled in the 1st course, a foreign citizen must provide the university with:  a personal form in English  an application for admission to the university  the original and notarized copy of an identity document (passport) with an officially certified translation into Kazakh or Russian  a state document on secondary education (original) with an officially certified (notarized) translation into Kazakh or Russian  6 photo cards in passport size (3x4 cm)  medical certificate form 086-У (after arriving at the University) + x-Ray image  vaccination passport with the registration of the first vaccine against viral hepatitis B  medical report confirming the absence of HIV infection and other diseases, and the possibility of studying and living in the climate of Kazakhstan

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WHAT IS NOSTRIFICATION AND WHY IS IT NECESSARY?

 Nostrification of education certificates is a procedure that is carried out to determine the equivalence of documents issued to persons who have received education in other countries. In other words, nostrification is the recognition of the compliance of educational documents issued by another country  This service is provided by the NationalAccreditation Center  What documents do you need to send your certificate for nostrification?? 1. the original of the certificate and its annex (after reconciliation to be returned) 2. a notarized copies of the certificate and its annexes with translation into Kazakh or Russian 3. a notarized copy of an identity document (passport) with a translation into Kazakh or Russian 4. an Individual Identification Number (IIN) issued after arrival in Kazakhstan 5. a copy of the license or certificate of accreditation of the institution that issued the educational document (with the exception of state-approved documents on secondary education, certified by the seal of the institution with a notarized translation into Kazakh or Russian) 6. payment receipt  The educational document and its annex issued by foreign educational organizations must be apostilled or legalized

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DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE “MEDICAL FOUNDATION” PREPARATORY COURSE IS?

Since 2017, SMU has introduced new approaches to the quality selection of applicants through the opening of the preparatory department of the Medical Foundation Students who have insufficient knowledge of special subjects (Biology, Chemistry), as well as a low level of English, are invited to take a course in MF

How to apply for MF? Preparation of applicants in 1. Reception of Biology, documents – Chemistry September 25-28 2. Enrollment 3. Start of classes – General October 1 English/Turkish courses 4. Term of study – 9 months

IELTS Exam Address: Preparation Semey city, 103 Abay Street, Courses Semey Medical University (room 222)

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WHAT IS CREDIT TECHNOLOGY OF EDUCATION?

 For international recognition of national educational curricula, as well as improving the quality of education in educational institutions, a single credit technology is implemented in SMU  Credit technology of education (CTE) is based on the choice and self-planning of students for the sequence of studying disciplines using credit as a unified unit of measurement of the student’s and teacher’s academic work

 When a student masters a full-time study program for a certain academic period, the Grade Point Average is calculated  Grade Point Average (GPA) is the weighted average assessment of the student’s level of academic achievement over one academic year

 CTE implies that student studies both the required disciplines stipulated by the Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan and the disciplines of his/her choice  As a rule, student can have several elective disciplines during each semester

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HOW TO PERFORM AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT WORK?

The independent work of the student (hereinafter – IWS) is the work on a specific list of topics intended for independent study, provided with educational literature and recommendations, controlled in the form of tests, examinations, colloquiums, essays, essays and reports

Classes in the framework of the IWS can have consultative and interactive forms, the ratio of which is determined by the complexity of the course being studied and the volume of classroom hours

Independent work of students includes extracurricular time under the guidance of the teacher (IWST) according to the schedule and extracurricular time without the participation of the teacher (IWS)

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HOW WILL MY KNOWLEDGE BE ASSESSED?

 Current control is a systematic assessment of students’ knowledge conducted by a teacher in classes. When studying the discipline, various types of current control of students' knowledge can be envisaged: oral survey, written survey, protection and presentation of homework, discussion, training, round tables, case studies, tests  Boundary (midterm) control of students' knowledge is carried out after the completion of each credit (module). The forms of carrying out the boundary control are: writing assignment, testing or oral survey-colloquium, etc.  Intermediate control is an examination session during which all subjects studied during the semester are taken. The examination session can take place in several stages: oral survey + testing, or practical skills + oral survey + testing  The final control (Qualification Examination) is a state exam for the graduate year students to determine the extent to which they master the volume of academic disciplines. The form of control includes the assessment of practical skills and comprehensive testing

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LETTER SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING STUDENTS' LEARNING ACHIEVEMENTS

Letter Digital equivalent of % grade Traditional grade grade grade А 4,0 95-100 Excellent А- 3,67 90-94 В+ 3,33 85-89 Good В 3,0 80-84 В- 2,67 75-79 С+ 2,33 70-74 С 2,0 65-69 Satisfactory С- 1,67 60-64 D+ 1,33 55-59 D 1,0 50-54 Fx 0,5 25-49 Unsatisfactory F 0 0-24

If a student gets an “unsatisfactory” Fx grade for the exam, then he/she has the opportunity to retake the exam. The number of allowable retakes for one discipline is 2, subject to obtaining Fx

If a student gets a “unsatisfactory” F grade for the exam, the final grade for the discipline is not calculated. To get a positive assessment, the student in the summer paid semester again attends all types of studies in this discipline, takes permission and passes the exam

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WHAT IS THE SUMMER PAID SEMESTER AND WHAT IS IT FOR?

 Summer paid semester is organized so that the student can eliminate academic indebtedness or academic difference  Academic indebtedness is unsatisfactory results of exam control in one or several disciplines (modules) or not passing exam control, as well as a shortfall of the grade rating tolerance (rating)  Rating is an assessment of student activity, expressed in points. Rating it as a generalized indicator, defined as a weighted average of the sum of all points (grades) received by the student for all types of work during the semester  Academic difference are subjects not studied in previous academic periods due to differences in educational programs after transferring from one university to another or restoring to a course

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SMU HAS A LOT OF YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS. HERE YOU CAN FIND SOME OF THEM!

Our students are actively involved in the university environment Student Scientific Society

Everyone can find a direction for himself – SMU ENACTUS education, science, sports, debate, humor and much more “Salauat” Debate Club

SMU Volunteer

Kazakhstan Medical Students' Association (KazMSA)

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ACTIVITY

Various Olympiads and educational competitions are held at the foreign department

Cultural activities helps to share different cultural experience

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OUR INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS ARE VERY FOND OF SOCIAL EVENTS

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WHAT DO YOU KNOW ABOUT KAZAKHSTAN? LET'S CHECK!

Kazakhstan (Qazaqstan), or the Republic of Kazakhstan, is the world's largest landlocked country, and the 9th largest in the world

Representatives of Kazakhstan is a more than 130 multinational nationalities live country here

Illustration by S Solberg J  Area: 2,72 million square kilometres  Capital: Nur-Sultan (Astana)  Official language: Kazakh (official state language) and Russian (used as official)  The largest ethnic groups: Kazakh, Russian, Ukrainian, Uyghur, Tatar, German  The most common religions: Islam, Christianity  According to its Constitution, Kazakhstan is a secular state  Religious freedoms are guaranteed by Article 39 of Kazakhstan's Constitution

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WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT ?

Nomadic lifestyle left a significant imprint on Kazakh cuisine. Special attention was paid to the technology of processing and . For centuries, the Kazakh culinary skill has been improved, modified, but some elements have remained the traditional hallmark of Kazakh cuisine Photograph by Shutterstock The business card of the feast in Kazakhstan is . This is a very ancient dish, consisting of pieces of boiled lamb (or horsemeat), broth and pieces of . Translated, "beshbarmak" means "five fingers", because the have long eaten this dish with their hands

Each country has its own dishes of boiled dough – , , Photograph by Shutterstock gnocchi. The have kespe, lagman (homemade noodles, served as a main course with a large piece of meat and , and as a side dish, without meat) and naryn (noodles made from very thin dough with meat) Fish and are more traditional for the inhabitants of the Aral Sea and the Caspian coast, the Irtysh, Syrdarya, and rivers. The most famous fish dish is koktal (fish with vegetables, grilled over charcoal)

Photograph by Shutterstock Kuyrdak is roast, consisting of meat, a large amount of and vegetables. The name of the dish comes from "kuyru" (fry). This is the recipe. The meat is finely chopped and fried over moderate heat.

Vegetables that are traditionally used – potatoes, carrots, onions, Photograph by Shutterstock pumpkins Kazakh cuisine also includes – a dish of finely chopped meat and finely rolled dough. Today, every Kazakh woman has her own recipe of manti, which originates from the times when nomads learned to knead dough and boil water. By the way, in translation “manti” means “stuffed Photograph by Shutterstock head” (“head of a barbarian”)

Another traditional dish is plov (). Each region represents its own version of plov. The main ingredients are and meat. It's hard to believe, but this dish is over 2 thousand years old! Photograph by Shutterstock

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WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT KAZAKH CUISINE?

The basis of many dishes of the Kazakh cuisine is . Milk is used both in the preparation of main dishes and desserts, as well as a separate dish

Photograph by 24.kz Kumys (product from mare's milk) has a huge therapeutic potential. It not only perfectly quenches thirst, but also cures tuberculosis, normalizes the intestinal microflora, increases hemoglobin, has a beneficial effect on the nervous system, slows the development of cancer, rejuvenates

Ayran is a fermented milk drink similar to kefir or yogurt. This magnificent drink has a number of advantages: it quenches thirst and hunger, gives vigor and strength. Due to its composition, is perfectly absorbed by the

body, improving metabolism and helping those who want to lose weight Photograph by Sea Wave, Shutterstock

Kurt is a very nutritious fermented milk product that can be stored for a long time and has an unusual salty taste. In Kazakhstan, kurt is made from skimmed milk, which is specially fermented and dehydrated Photograph by gastronom.ru

Baursaks are fried pieces of yeast dough, which are always present on the Kazakh table. Interestingly, in different , baursaks are fried in various sizes: from large and round to very small shi-baursaks of 1 centimeter Photograph by Shutterstock

Jent is a national Kazakh delicacy, which looks like halva, but tastes completely different. It is made from hand-processed millet with added , and raisins. The best addition to jent is rich black with

Photograph by Shutterstock milk

Kazakh cuisine is a variety of options for , pies, the most famous among which are tandyr flat , taba-nan (bread on the coals), baursak, Photograph by Shutterstock

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LIVING IN SEMEY – WHAT DOES AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT NEED TO KNOW?

 Semey is a city of regional significance in the East Kazakhstan region, located on both banks of the Irtysh River. This is the second largest city of the region Illustration by Serban Bogdan after Oskemen

 The climate of the region is sharply continental, which is associated with the greatest distance from the oceans on the mainland. This causes a large difference in the annual and daily variations in temperature  The coldest month is January. The average temperature at this time is about -35°C. The warmest month is July. During this period, the most precipitation falls.The average temperature is about +35°C

 This should be taken into account when planning life and studying in Semey. Upon arrival in the autumn you need to buy warm outerwear, a hat, a scarf, gloves, warm shoes Photograph by Panoramio

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OPENING A KAZAKHSTAN BANK ACCOUNT

 Opening a Kazakhstan bank account is if you are going to stay here for such a long time as undergraduate study. To open a bank account you need to have: the original passport, a notarized copy of the passport, Individual Identification Number (IIN)  There are many large banks here, we will list only a few of them # Bank Address Website

1 Halyk Bank 109 Abay Street www.halykbank.kz 15 Mangilik El Street 15/23 Momyshuly Street 9 Shakarim Avenue 2 Kaspi Bank 100/112 Valikhanov Street www.kaspi.kz 88 Zasyadko Street 3 Forte Bank 6 Kayum Mukhamedkhanov Street www.forte.bank 4 Eurasian Bank 124 Valikhanov Street www.eubank.kz 153/16 Ibrayev Street 42a Shakarim Avenue 5 Bank Centercredit 15 Shakarim Avenue, www.bcc.kz 22 Mangilik El Street 6 Sberbank 1 Kayum Mukhamedkhanov Street www.sberbank.kz

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WELL, HERE YOU CAN TAKE A LOOK AT CAMPUS MAP

The campus of SMU is divided into 5 zones: Educational zone, Technical zone, Post, Sports area and Parking

Educational zone consists of: Campus Parking Rules . Main Building . Dormitory #3 . Morphological Building . Biochemistry Building . United Laboratory

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USEFUL ADDRESSES WHERE THE CLASSES TAKE PLACE

University Hospital Emergency Hospital 1 Sechenov Street 140A Michurin Street +7 7222 53 13 39 +7 7222 77 73 35

City Hospital #2 Regional Oncology Center 1 Kabelny Alley 3 Kutzhanov Street +7 7222 30 94 48 +7 7222 77 44 22

Mental Health Center Narcological Center 282 Dulatov Street 32 Mangilik El Street +7 7222 54 17 46 +7 7222 52 43 91

City Perinatal Center Dermatovenerologic (the second building) Dispensary 57 Utepbayev Street 21 Kabanbay Batyr Street +7 7222 77 00 27 +7 7222 56 94 78

Medical Center “Jan-Er” Medical Center “Jamilya” 21 Kabanbay Batyr Street 26 Bespayev Street +7 7222 56 94 78 +7 7222 52 18 21

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