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In the 19th century, Ukraine (and Russia) faced a dental crisis. There were simply not enough dentists available, because they were not trained in Russia until 1881, and in Ukraine until 1900.

Poltava State Medical University was part of the solution to this problem. Founded in 1921, it was originally just a faculty of odontology at Kharkiv Medical Academy. Ten years later, it became Ukraine¡¯s first specialised university for training dentists. And in 1967, it moved to Poltava, in central Ukraine.

Today, it offers undergraduate degrees in dentistry, nursing and pharmacy, as well as postgraduate qualifications in dentistry, medicine, paediatrics and public health.

Student accommodation is in nine-storey dormitory blocks, which include among their selling points isolation wards for sick students. Facilities include a gym and a sports hall. Some students sleep in bunk beds.