The decision to open a medical institute in Alma-Ata was made by the Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the RSFSR of July 10, 1930, «The Network, Structure, and Contingent of Admission to Higher Educational Institutions of Authorities Under the RSFSR Administration for the 1930/1931.» In the appendix to this Decree, among the list of all other universities of the country there is an entry: “… Alma-Ata. Medical Institute. Faculty of Medicine. Reception: winter 1930/1931 — 100 people. » This is the first administrative document on the issue of opening a medical institute in Kazakhstan.
By order of the People’s Commissariat of Health of the KASSR No. 260 dated November 30, 1930, Sanzhar Dzhafarovich Asfendiyarov, who graduated from the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg in 1912, was appointed director of the medical institute.
The staff of the institute in 1931 was as follows: 5 professors, 4 associate professors, 13 assistants and 2 teachers. Professors: Asfendiyarov S.D. (Head of the Department of Social Sciences), Averburg V.V. (Head of the Department of Histology), Zakhvatkin V.A. (Head of the Department of Biology), Isaev P.O. (Head of the Department of Morphology, later the Department of Normal Anatomy), N. Litvinova (Head of the Department of Chemistry).
An acute shortage of pediatric doctors required the opening of a pediatric faculty in 1938. Its organizer and first dean was prof. A.I. Malinin is a graduate of the medical faculty of Saratov University.
A difficult test is worthy of transferring a young developing university to the Great Patriotic War. Already in the early days of the war 84 teachers and 262 students voluntarily went to the front.
About 2,000 doctors graduated from the institute during the war years, 75% of graduates were sent to the front. The immortal feat in the name of freedom of the motherland was made at the front by the students of the medical institute Manshuk Mametova and Vladimir Ivanilov, who were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. They are forever enrolled in medical university students.
Due to the growth and expansion of industrial and defense enterprises in Kazakhstan during the war years, a large number of evacuated people and the danger of epidemics, in 1943 the third faculty was opened at the institute — sanitary and hygienic.
In the postwar period, the enrollment of students increased significantly, and the number of faculties increased: in 1951, the Faculty of Pharmacy was organized, and in 1959, the Faculty of Dentistry was opened.
In 1981, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for his achievements in training personnel and his great contribution to science.
By the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Kazakh SSR No. 17 of January 11, 1989, the Institute was named after S.D. Asfendiyarova.
By decree of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Nazarbayev N.A. No. 648 of July 5, 2001 “On the provision of special status to certain state higher educational institutions”, the university received the status of the Kazakh National Medical University.
In 2004, students began to accept students in the specialty «Management» in part-time and full-time studies, since 2007 they studied undergraduate studies in the specialty «Medicine», and in the specialty «Nursing» — undergraduate.
In KazNMU them. S.D. Asfendiyarova employs well-known scientists and teachers of Kazakhstan, academics of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, the Academy of Preventive Medicine of the Republic of Kazakhstan, international academies, honored scientists and educators, honored doctors and pharmacists.
KazNMU named after S.D. Asfendiyarova has cooperation agreements with universities of foreign and neighboring countries, including: Nagasaki University (Nagasaki, Japan), Asia Pacific University (Beppo, Japan), Parkway College (Singapore); University of Perugia (Perugia, Italy), Transdanube University (Krems, Austria); Kyrgyz State Medical Academy (Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic), National Medical University named after A. Bogomolets (Kiev, Ukraine), National University of Pharmacy (Kharkov, Ukraine), Moscow Medical Academy I. Sechenova (Moscow, Russia) and others. University staff are actively involved in carrying out research work on international programs and grants.