A plenary meeting of “The Legacy of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov and the nation’s health” conference and the award ceremony for the winners of the “St. Seraphim’s Doctor” professional competition among the medical specialists and the “St. Seraphim’s Sister of Mercy” was held today at the Diveyevo Center of Slavic Culture.

The “St. Seraphim’s Doctor” competition was organized by the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov Charitable Foundation with the support from the Presidential Grants Fund as part of the development of “Arzamas-Diveyevo-Sarov” pilgrim and tourist cluster. The competition is aimed to increase the social status and material support of the medical specialists and to draw attention to the problems in the area of public health, the detection and the advancement of the available experience and effective practices.

O.Y.Baraeva, “With the name of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov” program director and the advisor to the head of the Nizhny Novgorod Metropolia explained: “It is a wide-ranging program that includes four different projects,” she said, “In 2005, our first project called “St. Seraphim’s Teacher” got underway. For the last ten years, the medical specialists have been asking us: why do we have the “St. Seraphim’s Teacher” but not the “St. Seraphim’s Doctor?” There was a need for such a competition and, despite the project was put in motion during the time of the national health crisis when the medical specialists had punishing timetable, the applicants found the time to apply for the participation in the competition.”

This year, the results of the “St. Seraphim’s Doctor” competition were summed up for the first time. The competition received one hundred and thirty seven applications from twenty-three regions of Russia and the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Olga Baraeva, the competition presenter at the Center of Slavic Culture, heartily thanked the competition participants and its organizers.

Igor V. Panshin, the Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Privolzhsky District, warmly greeted the audience.

Two winners of the competition, Fyodor Sevryukov and Oleg Apolikhin, presented the reports relating to the questions of relationships ethics between doctors, their colleagues and patients and the reproduction issues of the Russian population.

Hegumenia Sergia, the abbess of the Seraphim-Diveyevo monastery and member of the board of Venerable Seraphim of Sarov Charitable Foundation, addressed the competition participants with words of wisdom.

According to the results of the first competition, seven medical specialists were awarded an honorary degree of “St. Seraphim’s Doctor,” and four more received the honorary degree of “St. Seraphim’s Sister of Mercy.” Seven medical specialists were named the Venerable Seraphim of Sarov prizewinners, two participants were honored with a special prize of the competition, and twenty medical specialists received encouragement prize. Eighteen participants received the diploma of a competition participant. All of them are Christians who dedicated their lives to serving God and the people.

The conference ran a showing of “St. Seraphim’s Doctor” documentary that presented the work of Dr. I.A. Medianik, Neurosurgeon, Dr. F.A. Sevryukov and Dr. O.I. Apolikhin, Urologists, Dr. V.E. Zagainov, Surgeon, and the history of the competition.

At the conclusion of the award ceremony, Bishop Filaret of Dalnekonstantinov, the Vicar of the Nizhny Novgorod Diocese, gave farewell address and offered the hierarchical blessing to the competition participants.