Health systems in transition : Uzbekistan

Physical and human resources
The years since independence have seen substantial reductions in the number 
of beds in acute care hospitals and further cuts are envisaged. In terms of acute 
care hospital beds per population, the country now ranks below the averages 
for the central Asian countries and the CIS. There has also been a decline in 

---

Health systems in transition
  
Uzbekistan
xviii
the number of physicians per population, which is now also below the average 
for the central Asian countries, while the number of nurses per population has 
remained largely constant in the last two decades and is now the highest in the 
central Asian region. 
There is one medical academy, four medical schools and three regional 
branches, all of which are state-owned. Four main faculties for the training 
of medical doctors in medical schools exist: treatment (general medicine), 
treatment with an emphasis on teaching skills (pedagogy of general medicine), 
general paediatrics and sanitary-epidemiology. There are 72 professional 
colleges offering basic nursing training. Medical education has been revised, 
with an extension of undergraduate medical education from six to seven years 
and the replacement of early specialization with a more generalized orientation. 
Graduates are now qualified as general practitioners. The training of nurses has 
been extended to two years for nursing students with high school certificates 
and to three years for students with secondary school certificates.