People's Doctor of the USSR

People's Doctor of the USSR (Russian: Народный врач СССР) was an honorary title granted to doctors of the Soviet Union; it was established on 25 October 1977 by Leonid Brezhnev and its creation was officialized on the n°44/1977 issue of Supreme Soviet's official journal. Its regulation was later modified and completed by the Supreme Soviet's decree of 22 August 1988.

People's Doctor of the USSR insignia

It was conferred by the Supreme Soviet's presidency on behalf of the Ministry of Health. A diploma of the Supreme Soviet's presidency was given to those who were appointed People's Doctor jointly with the medal and its concerning certificate. The title could be bestowed to individual medical doctors and nurses but also to health care structures as general hospitals, sanatoriums, maternity wards or preventive medicine centres.

The awarded people or structures were selected for their worthwhile contributions to public health improvement, for their peculiar skills and expertise and for having proved abnegation and high moral qualities in their duties fulfilment.

Following the Dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, the title did not disappear. On 30 December 1995, by a decree of the Russian presidency, it was created the new title of Meritorious Doctor of the Russian Federation.

The title was first bestowed on 9 August 1978, when five people were awarded:

Viktor Nikolayevich Vasilenko
Lyudmila Vasilievna Yevstratova
Viktor Mikhailovich Ilin
Lyudmila Nilolayevna Mikhailova
Zagipa Madievna Madiyeva

The last doctor to be praised was Dr. Vitaly Prokopievich Sergeyev from Osh (Kirghiz SSR), whom the medal was conferred on 20 December 1991.

Design

The medal was made of tombac and its shape was roughly quadrangular (22.5 x 23.5 mm). The central part was occupied by the inscription "Народный врач СССР" (People's Doctor of the USSR) on three lines and below, on the left, the Bowl of Hygieia medical symbol and, on the right, a bay laurel branch. Symbols and inscriptions were embossed, with convex letters. The medal was suspended to a single red silk fringe (18 mm x 21 mm) to whom it was attached by a metallic buckle bearing the hammer and sickle symbol.

Orders, decorations, and medals of the Soviet Union
Highest grade of distinction	Hero of the Soviet Union Hero of Socialist Labour Mother Heroine
Honorary titles	Honoured Military Pilot Honoured Military Navigator Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR Honoured Test Pilot Honoured Test Navigator Honoured Pilot Honoured Navigator Honoured Inventor People's Artist People's Doctor People's Architect People's Teacher
Civil and military orders	Order of Victory Order of Lenin Order of the October Revolution Order of the Red Banner Order of Suvorov Order of Ushakov Order of Kutuzov Order of Nakhimov Order of the Red Star Order of the Patriotic War Order of Alexander Nevsky Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky Order of Glory Order "For Service to the Homeland in the Armed Forces of the USSR" Order of the Red Banner of Labour Order of Friendship of Peoples Order of the Badge of Honour Order of Maternal Glory Order of Labour Glory Order of Honour Order "For Personal Courage"
Military medals	Medal "For Courage" Medal "For Battle Merit" Medal of Ushakov Medal of Nakhimov For Distinction in Guarding the State Border For Distinction in the Protection of Public Order For Distinction in Military Service For Strengthening Military Cooperation For Impeccable Service Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR
Second World War medals	For the Defence of Leningrad Odessa Sevastopol Stalingrad Moscow Caucasus Soviet Transarctic Kyiv For the Capture of Berlin Budapest Königsberg Vienna For the Liberation of Prague Warsaw Belgrade For the Victory over Germany For the Victory over Japan To a Partisan of the Patriotic War For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War
Civil medals	For Labour Valour For Distinguished Labour For the Salvation of the Drowning For Courage in a Fire Veteran of Labour For the Restoration of the Donbass Coal Mines For the Restoration of the Black Metallurgy Enterprises of the South For the Development of Virgin Lands For Construction of the Baikal-Amur Railway For Transforming the Non-Black Earth For the Tapping of the Subsoil of Western Siberia
Jubilee medals	XX Years of the Red Army 30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy 40 50 60 70 Years of the Armed Forces 20 30 40 Years of Victory 800th Anniversary of Moscow 250th Anniversary of Leningrad 1500th Anniversary of Kyiv 50 Years of the Soviet Militia 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Lenin
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People's Doctor of the USSR

Design

References

See also