The development of Ukrainian medical scientific organization through the centuries (to the 120th anniversary of foundation)

Abstract

Introduction. February 7th, 2018 marks 120 years since the foundation of the first Ukrainian medical scientific society “The Medical Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society.” Its original periodical journal  “Medical Collection” was initiated in1898 and continues in the modernera (since 2015) as “Proceedings of the Shevchenko ScientificSociety. Medical Sciences.” Aim: To defind historical circumstances of organization of “The Medical Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society” and introduce future directions of its development. Materials and Methods: Systematic analysis of the 120 years activity of The Medical Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in Google Scholar, PubMed, and archives data. Results: In 1898 Doctor Yevhen Osarkevych organized “The Medical Commission of the Shevchenko Scientific Society” and placed before its membership the goal of publishing a medical scientific journal where Ukrainian doctors of that time would have the opportunity to publish the results of their own research and communicate in this way their experience. Moreover, it was an important goal for the members of the commission to establish Ukrainian medical terminology. The organization’s enthusiasm and persistent everyday work resulted in the publication of six issues of “The Medical Collection” to appear between 1898-1902. For the purpose of faster integration into European medical science, the medical journal was published in both Ukrainian and German (the international medical language of that era). Some of the topics published were: influence of temperature on osmotic erythrocyte resistance, diagnostics of hemolytic jaundice, establishment of retinoscopy etc. The journals distribution was not only in Galicia, but also in Eastern Ukraine and the neighboring border countries. Since 1903, however, medical articles were published only as a part of “The Collection of mathematic-biologicalmedical section” (“Sitzungsberichte der mathematisch-naturwissenschaftlicharztlichen Sektion”). During World Wars I and II, the interwar and post-war periods, all Ukrainian organizations and like activities were forbidden. Nevertheless, Ukrainian doctors-emigrants in the United States of America and Canada founded their own center of Ukrainian medical science when Doctor Roman Osinchuk in 1948 organized in New York City The Medical Commission of The Shevchenko Scientific Society and in 1950 initiated the creation of the “Ukrainian Medical Association of North America” (UMANA) that started to publish “Medical Journal of The Ukrainian Medical Association of North America” in 1954.This achievement of the Ukrainian Diaspora became the symbolic bridge that connected the monumental initiative of Doctor Yevhen Osarkevych with the modern epoch of an independent Ukraine. In 1993 Lviv’s medical scientists and physicians revived the Medical Commission of The Shevchenko Scientific Society as well as the journal “Medical Collection. New edition”. Since 2010 the journal has been distributed according to the list of obligatory dispatch of periodicals to all the libraries of Ukrainian Medical Universities as well as to the regional medical libraries and leading institutions of The National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine. Since 2017, the journal “Proceedings of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Medical Sciences,” is indexed by Digital Objective Identifier (DOI) in the international system CrossRef. Conclusions. The existence and development of the Ukrainian medical scientific society and its journal “Medical Collection” – “Proceedings of the Shevchenko Scientific Society. Medical Sciences” through the last 120 years is a legacy to the service, patriotism and great sacrifice of Ukrainian physicians. This long-standing existence of the medical society and its publications deserves historical recognition and continuation into the future. It will serve as an inspiration for the integration of discoveries in Ukrainian medical sciences into the world scientific arena.