Department history

The Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine of the Kazakh National Medical University named after S.D. Asfendiyarov was founded in September 1974 by order of the Ministry of Health of the Kazakh SSR. The founder of the department was an outstanding scientist and practitioner, Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences A.A. Togaibayev. At the time of its foundation, the department was located at two key bases: in the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at the Hospital for Veterans of the Great Patriotic War and at the BSMP.

The initial staff of the department consisted of three employees: Professor A.A. Togaibayev, assistant G.G. Ushakova and assistant B.K. Sultanbayeva. Under the guidance of Professor A.A. Togaibaev, 1 doctoral and 21 candidate dissertations were defended, more than two hundred scientific articles were published. Academician A.A. Togaibayev significantly improved the educational and methodological work of the department and introduced modern methods of non-inhalation anesthesia.

In 1997, the department was reorganized and transformed into the course of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine at the Department of General Surgery. In the period from 1997 to 2006, the head of the course was associate professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences Berdalina G.S. During this time, she published a monograph and six research papers on anesthesia and the effect of anesthesia on homeostasis in urological patients.

In the period from 2006 to 2011, Associate professor, Candidate of Medical Sciences Dzholdybekov T.S. was the head of the anesthesiology and intensive care course. During this period, he took an active part in the development of the RUP, TUP and internship syllabuses for the training of doctors in the specialty “General Medicine”. Also, from 2007 to 2011, T.S. Dzholdybekov headed the Almaty branch of the Federation of Anesthesiologists and Resuscitators of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Since 2011, under the guidance of Professor, Doctor of Medical Sciences Israilova V.K., the course of anesthesiology and intensive care medicine has been reorganized into a department. Professor V.K. Israilova, who has extensive experience in the anesthesiological service, defended her PhD thesis in 1994 at the Bakulev Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery, and then her doctoral thesis at one of the leading centers of cardiovascular surgery. Under her leadership, 2 master’s theses were defended, and 3 PhD students are studying at the department.

Today, the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care has 13 employees, including 2 associate professors, assistant professors, lecturers and assistants. The Cathedral staff actively conducts scientific work, participates in the development and implementation of new methods in anesthesiology and intensive care, and publishes scientific articles in collaboration with doctors of clinical bases. The department regularly conducts scientific research, clinical experiments and developments aimed at improving anesthesiological and intensive care services in healthcare practice.

The staff of the department actively participates in the management and counseling of severe patients, conducts anesthesiological services in such areas as traumatology, oncology, obstetrics and many others. They also participate in expert activities through the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Department of Internal Affairs and Forensic Medical Examination.

From 2011 to 2025, the department was successfully led by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Venera Israilova. In 2023, due to the reorganization, the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care was divided into two divisions: Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care No. 1 and No. 2. The Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit No. 1 continues the traditions of the main department by implementing the educational programs «General Medicine» and «Medicine».

Since August 2025, Associate Professor without academic title Utegenova Zhanna Amiralievna has been the acting head of the Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Unit No. 1.

Master classes and seminars aimed at introducing modern methods of treating severe patients and improving the skills of medical specialists are actively conducted at the clinical bases of the department.