Founded in 1931 in the Turkmenistan capital of Ashgabat, Myrat Garryyev State Medical University is the only medical university in Turkmenistan with more than 3,000 students.
It was originally named the Turkmen State Medical Institute; in 2019, it was named after prominent educator ¨C and political figure ¨C Myrat Orazgulyevich Garryyev.
Students are admitted into one of six faculties: medicine; paediatrics; dentistry; pharmacy; preventative medicine; or military medicine. Students at the military-medicine faculty receive practical experience at the Ashgabat Trauma Centre. Graduates go on to become doctors and nurses in the Turkmenistan army.
The university is also home to five research centres, ranging from dentistry to eye diseases, via maternal and child health, medical biotechnology and sports medicine.