Introduction: The key objective of national projects is to maintain and promote health of citizens. Nutrition makes a significant contribution to health protection; yet, problems related to quantitative and qualitative characteristics of nutrition, food safety, and high risks of nutrition-related diseases are obvious. Current trends necessitate the development of new approaches to training specialists majoring in preventive medicine. The students mastering a specialty program shall acquire general cultural and professional competencies and be ready to perform medical, organizational, managerial, and research activities, including those needed to respond to challenges related to safe and high-quality nutrition. The required competency building occurs when studying the main academic disciplines and may be then reinforced and deepened by the variable part (or elective academic component) of the educational program. Objective: To substantiate the content of the variable part of the educational program on food safety aimed to improve the quality of training of public health physicians in this area. Materials and methods: Based on the requirements of the federal higher education standard, professional standard and an exemplary educational program of higher education for students majoring in medical and preventive care, the curriculum of the Ural State Medical University was supplemented with optional academic disciplines containing separate sections on food hygiene, as well as the discipline titled “Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance over Food Production and Sale”. Results and conclusions: The experience in the development and implementation of optional academic disciplines has demonstrated their high demand by students and general satisfaction with results of training. It has also created conditions for multiple repetition and consolidation of learning materials by means of food examinations in class, hygienic education according to individual and group programs, and studies of new technologies for food production, circulation, quality and safety assurance.

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