Russian Health Care Professionals Visit Here

The Gwinnett Rotary Club recently welcomed a group of Russian health care professionals participating in the Open World Program. 

Since its founding by Congress in 1999, the Open World Program has enabled more than 14,000 current and future Eurasian leaders to experience American democracy, civil society and community life; work with their American counterparts, stay in American homes, and gain new ideas and inspiration for implementing change back home.

Participants visiting Gwinnett County were:

• Sofya Aleksandrovna Barysheva, director of Administrative and Information Support, National Medical Organization, NPP
• Olga Vladimirovna Bortnik, chief of staff for Administrative and Methodological Issues, Hospital # 1, Irkutsk City
• Igor Aleksandrovich Karetnikov, director of Anesthesiology & Intensive Care Services, Irkutsk Region Hospital
• Tatyana Ivanovna Krasilnikova, chief of Obstetrics & Gynecology, City Hospital 5, Irkutsk City
• Aleksey Sergeyevich Mikhaylov, chief of staff, Kirensk District Central Hospital
• Lyudmila Vladimirovna Guseva, library manager, American Information Resource Center, Nizhny Novgorod Linguistic University

The group, which arrived Dec. 2 and departed Dec. 10, was from the Lake Baikal region of southern Siberia, population 600,000. As described by Dr. Bortnik, the temperature averages 68 degrees Fahrenheit during the short, two-month summer and 5 degrees Fahrenheit in winter, but can reach 40 degrees below zero in rare instances. According to reports, Siberia is so immense that a person standing in Maine is closer to Moscow than a person on the eastern coast of Siberia. 

Dispelling stereotypes, the group described a region rich in natural beauty and rapidly becoming a tourist destination for resort retreats. Lake Baikal, as described by the visitors, is the deepest fresh water lake in the world with a depth of more than 5000 feet. According to Karetnikov and confirmed with research, Lake Baikal holds more water than all five American Great Lakes combined and is home to a rare species of fresh water seal. The lake is estimated by scientists to be 50 million years old.

Despite the language barrier, the group welcomed questions from Gwinnett Rotarians at their Dec. 6 meeting, and through an interpreter described their homeland, daily life, families, Rotary work in Siberia, and impressions of America. While staying in the United States, visitors from Russia toured a number of medical facilities including the Gwinnett Medical Center, Emory, the CDC, and the Atlanta East Metro Health District.