Medical service of construction brigades in the Kalmyk ASSR in the 1960s

The article examines the organization and activities of the medical service of student construction brigades operating in the Kalmyk ASSR during the summer of 1968. The relevance of the topic is due to the insufficient study of the everyday life and social infrastructure of Soviet student brigades, including the specifics of their medical support. The aim of the study is to identify the structure, tasks, forms, and results of the medical service’s work within the Donetsk student construction brigade and the RIIJTa brigade that functioned in the republic. The objectives include an analysis of the composition of the medical personnel, preventive and therapeutic work, as well as the nature of morbidity and injuries among students. Archival materials from the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia, containing departmental documents of the Ministry of Health of the Kalmyk ASSR, were used as sources. The methodological basis is formed by the principles of microhistorical and sociohistorical analysis. The study established that the medical service of the student brigades working in the Kalmyk ASSR was characterized by a high level of organization and close cooperation with the republic’s health authorities, which enabled effective control of the sanitary-epidemiological situation, timely provision of medical care, and sanitary education among students and the local population.