Department of Cardiology, Laboratory and Functional Diagnostics

At present, the Department of Cardiology, Laboratory and Functional Diagnostics is one of the leading departments in Ukraine in its field, which is due to the high qualifications of its staff, the use of innovative approaches, and relevant scientific research. The Department carries out educational, methodological and research activities in the specialty 222 “Medicine”, field of knowledge 22 “Healthcare”, at the School of Medicine. Within the structure of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, the Department was established relatively recently – in 2021.

History

The Department of Cardiology was founded in 1979, and the task of its establishment was entrusted to Associate Professor of the Department of Therapy No. 3, Mykola F. Shustval. From 1979 to 1988, the Department of Cardiology was located at City Hospital No. 28 of the Kyivskyi district, and in 1988 it was transferred to the newly built Medical and Sanitary Unit of the Kharkiv Tractor Engine Plant (now City Clinical Hospital No. 8). In 1995, the Department was renamed the Department of Cardiology and Functional Diagnostics.

Since 2000, the Department has been headed by Professor Vira Yosypivna Tseluiko, MD, Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine, professional member of the European Society of Cardiology, member of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Cardiology, Head of the Kharkiv branch of the Ukrainian Association of Cardiology, and Honorary Doctor of V. N. Karazin National University.

Every year, the Department conducts specialization cycles in Cardiology and Functional Diagnostics, as well as thematic advanced training courses on the following topics: “Clinical ECG in the Practice of a Physician”, “Cardiomyopathies and Inflammatory Heart Diseases”, “Cardiovascular Pathology and Pregnancy”, “Thrombotic Complications in Cardiology” and others. More than 7,000 trainees have been trained at the Department, and around 500 physicians from various regions of Ukraine undergo training and professional development here annually. In addition, more than 100 foreign clinical residents and postgraduate students from 21 countries have completed training at the Department.

The work of the Department’s team is consistently aimed at enhancing teaching, research, and clinical-diagnostic activities.

Within the structure of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, the Department of Cardiology was incorporated in 2021, and its name was changed from “Department of Cardiology and Functional Diagnostics” to “Department of Cardiology, Laboratory and Functional Diagnostics”.

Facilities of the Department of Cardiology, Laboratory and Functional Diagnostics

The material and technical base of the Department is maintained at the highest level and fully meets international standards.

The Department has all necessary conditions for delivering the educational process at a high level. Classes are held at the clinical bases of the Department: City Clinical Hospital No. 8 and the Cardiology Department of the Regional Clinical Hospital. Lectures are given in a lecture hall equipped with modern multimedia technology and computers. Practical classes are conducted in teaching rooms equipped with educational and methodological materials, as well as computers with Internet access.

The material and technical resources of the hospitals allow the educational process to be conducted at a high level and enable students to participate directly in patient examinations using the full diagnostic potential of the clinics. In addition, the clinical bases perform advanced diagnostic procedures such as coronary angiography and coronary stenting, computed tomography, and magnetic resonance imaging. Widely used methods include ECG, echodopplerography, exercise stress testing, transesophageal electrical cardiac stimulation, 24-hour blood pressure and ECG monitoring, and assessment of central aortic pressure parameters. Laboratory diagnostic methods in biochemistry, immunology, and genetics are continuously improved.

Staff of the Department have developed distance learning courses and prepared a bank of educational video and audio materials.

Head of the Department

The Department of Cardiology, Laboratory and Functional Diagnostics is headed by Professor Vira Yosypivna Tseluiko, MD, Honoured Worker of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine, professional member of the European Society of Cardiology, member of the Board of the Ukrainian Association of Cardiology, Head of the Kharkiv branch of the Ukrainian Association of Cardiology, and Honorary Doctor of V. N. Karazin National University.

Professor Tseluiko has been awarded the M. D. Strazhesko Medal “For Services to Healthcare”, numerous diplomas of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, certificates from the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and the Academy of Medical Sciences, and the “Medix Triumph” award in the category “Most Active Local Organizer of the ‘Distance Learning’ Project”.

In 1980, after graduating from the Kharkiv Medical Institute, she was recommended by the Academic Council for scientific work, which she began under the supervision of Academician Liubov Trokhymivna Mala. Professor Tseluiko went through all stages of academic growth – from laboratory assistant with higher education to leading research fellow and Head of the Department of Atherosclerosis Genetics.

In 1985, she defended her PhD thesis in Cardiology on the topic “Plasma Prostanoids in the Dynamics of Hypolipidemic Therapy in Patients with Coronary Atherosclerosis”, and in 1994 she defended her Doctoral thesis in two specialties – “Cardiology” and “Genetics” – on the topic “Clinical, Anamnestic and Genetic Aspects of Ischemic Heart Disease in Young Patients”.

In 2000, Vira Yosypivna was awarded the academic title of Professor and from the same year headed the Department of Cardiology and Functional Diagnostics at the Kharkiv Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education. She undertook international training (USA, 2001) and has participated in numerous European, American and World cardiology congresses and conferences. Her first international presentation was delivered in 1997 at the European Atherosclerosis Congress in Paris.

In collaboration with researchers from the Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics and the Institute of Gerontology, she was the first in Ukraine to initiate molecular-genetic studies in cardiology. The results of this work were recognized by the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine as the best research project of a five-year period. Professor Tseluiko has also closely cooperated with the National Scientific Center “M. D. Strazhesko Institute of Cardiology”, the M. M. Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery, and the Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine.

Under her supervision, 4 Doctoral and 35 PhD theses have been completed. She is the author of 8 monographs, the “Cardiologist’s Handbook” (4 editions), the “Course of Lectures in Clinical Cardiology” (2 editions), and more than 600 articles in various journals.

Each year, about 500 physicians from different regions of Ukraine undergo training and professional development at the Department headed by Professor Tseluiko. More than 100 foreign clinical residents and postgraduate students from 21 countries have also completed training here.

Professor V. Y. Tseluiko is a well-known scientist in Ukraine and abroad. Under her guidance, the first Ukrainian registries of patients with myocardial infarction, cardiomyopathies and pulmonary embolism were created, and specialized Centers for the diagnosis and treatment of secondary arterial hypertension and for the rehabilitation of cardiac patients after surgical treatment were organized.

Academic Staff of the Department

As of 2021, the academic staff of the Department includes:

1 Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor
4 Associate Professors, PhDs in Medicine
5 Assistants, PhDs in Medicine

66.7% of the staff are full-time employees and 33.3% are part-time (external) staff.

Teaching staff of the Department:

L. M. Yakovlieva
A. V. Zhadan
S. I. Kryzhna
N. Ye. Mishchuk
O. H. Pocheptsova
I. V. Kuznetsov
O. V. Radchenko
O. O. Romanenko
S. M. Sukhova
O. O. Butko
O. Ye. Matuzok

The high quality of education is ensured by the many years of experience and strong pedagogical potential of the Department’s staff. To maintain a high academic and professional level, faculty members annually complete continuing professional development courses, specialization and thematic improvement programmes, and participate in conferences and congresses (both online and offline).

Teaching Activity

The Department provides training for physicians and students in Ukrainian, Russian (for Russian-speaking international students) and English, in accordance with standard curricula approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine.

The educational process is organized using modern multimedia and computer technologies and innovative teaching approaches (online consultations, voice and text chats for discussing clinical and theoretical issues, distance knowledge assessment, etc.).

In the course of training at the Department, physicians and students have the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the operation of modern diagnostic and therapeutic equipment available at the Department’s disposal. During practical classes, students, together with the teaching staff, participate in clinical examinations of patients, clinical case discussions, consultations, ward rounds, departmental and clinical conferences, gaining valuable clinical and practical experience already at the stage of undergraduate training.

Disciplines

The Department teaches students in Ukrainian, Russian (for Russian-speaking international students) and English in the following disciplines:

Cardiology
Laboratory Diagnostics
Functional Diagnostics

Methodological Work

Methodological work at the Department is carried out on a continuous basis, resulting in comprehensive methodological support for all taught disciplines. Teaching materials are available to students online in electronic format, as well as in print.

Key outcomes of the Department’s methodological work under the supervision of Professor V. Y. Tseluiko include the “Course of Lectures in Clinical Cardiology”, updated and republished in 2020, and the “Cardiology Handbook”, first published in 2009 and republished in 2012 and 2014. In addition, numerous methodological guidelines and teaching manuals have been prepared.

For the main cardiac pathologies, the Department has developed and regularly updates methodological packages that include:

systems for assessing students’ knowledge,
guidelines for practical classes and self-directed learning,
databases of test and situational tasks for ongoing assessment,
lists of control questions and recommended literature,
multimedia lecture presentations and other educational materials.

Research Activities

Research at the Department has been conducted since its foundation and covers a wide range of topics in cardiology. Under the supervision of Professor V. Y. Tseluiko, more than 35 PhD theses and 4 Doctoral theses have been defended. Staff members take part in international clinical trials.

The results of the Department’s research have been published in journals with an impact factor indexed in international scientometric databases, as well as in more than 1,000 articles in Ukrainian specialized journals. Innovative approaches are confirmed by numerous patents and copyright certificates.

The Department organizes scientific and practical conferences, and its staff regularly present their research findings at conferences and congresses, including international events.

Clinical Bases

The clinical bases of the Department are:

Cardiology Department of the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Hospital
City Clinical Hospital No. 8, Kharkiv

The Kharkiv Regional Clinical Hospital is a modern multi-profile healthcare institution. The cardiology inpatient unit has 60 beds and an intensive care unit equipped with state-of-the-art equipment.

City Clinical Hospital No. 8 includes 6 cardiology departments: two myocardial infarction units, an intensive care unit providing emergency cardiac care, a post–myocardial infarction rehabilitation department, a department for the treatment of secondary hypertension, a general cardiology department, and a rheumatology department.

The clinics perform coronary angiography and coronary stenting, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Widely used diagnostic methods include ECG, echodopplerography, stress tests, transesophageal electrical cardiac stimulation, 24-hour blood pressure and ECG monitoring, and assessment of central aortic pressure. Laboratory methods in biochemistry, immunology and genetics are continually improved.

At the clinical bases, lecture, practical and laboratory classes, as well as clinical case discussions, are conducted with the participation of students. These activities support the development of practical skills and consolidate the theoretical knowledge acquired.

Clinical work of the Department’s staff is carried out at the clinical bases, with active involvement of students during the study of relevant disciplines.

Contact Information

Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise “Regional Clinical Hospital”
13 Nezalezhnosti Avenue,
Kharkiv, Ukraine

Municipal Non-Profit Enterprise “City Clinical Hospital No. 8”
266-H Saltivske Highway,
Kharkiv, 61176, Ukraine