The contradiction between the mission of medical education and the dominance of commercialization grant strategies

Abstract

The article examines the emerging conflict between the traditional social and state mission of medical university education and the new grant policy imposed by the commercialization and entrepreneurial paradigm. Based on the analysis of the structure and target goals of leading Russian grant competitions (Ya v dele, Umnik, Studencheskiy startap, Start), as well as systemic initiatives – the Startup as Diploma program and the activities of the Project Office for Youth Entrepreneurship Development of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation – a persistent orientation bias towards the creation of private commercial enterprises has been identified. A comparative analysis of the attractiveness of social and commercial grants for students is presented, demonstrating the dominance of pragmatic motives in favor of commercialization instruments. It is proved that the financial and reputational attractiveness of such competitions, supported by administrative resources, leads to a significant transformation of educational priorities, students' value orientations, and personnel planning in medical universities. The result is a systemic ethical and organizational conflict between the institutional goal of training personnel for public healthcare and instrumental practices that redirect intellectual potential to the private sector. The conclusion proposes vectors for rebalancing grant policy through the creation of specialized competitions for the needs of public healthcare and the adaptation of educational programs.