
In Kazakhstan’s capital, Astana, there is now a medical school offering a fully accredited four-year medical program with a U.S.-based curriculum, thanks to a longstanding partnership with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. It is the only graduate-level MD program in Central Asia, where students typically go into medical school directly from high school.
The MD program at Nazarbayev University School of Medicine (NUSOM) was awarded full accreditation in April by a regional agency recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education.
“We are absolutely delighted with this achievement,” said Nazarbayev University Dean Massimo Pignatelli, “and we are extremely grateful to the team from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine because they’ve been involved in this project from the beginning as our strategic partner.”
For the past 12 years, Pitt Med has been the strategic partner of Nazarbayev University (NU) as it established its own medical school with the goal of educating physician-scientists to become the Central Asian nation’s next leaders in health care, medical education and biomedical research.
— Micaela Corn