Museal activities of the Department of Normal Physiology at Kursk State Medical University

The article analyzes the museal work of the A.V. Zavyalov Department of Normal Physiology at Kursk State Medical University as a modern tool for preserving scientific legacy and
shaping professional identity in future physicians and scientists. The study focuses on the
project of the memorial and historical design of the Department’s hallway, developed in
commemoration of the Department’s 90th anniversary. Particular attention is given to the
structure and content of the exhibition, which includes the panels illustrating the genealogy of scientific schools of the founders of Russian physiology (I.M. Sechenov, I.P. Pavlov, V.M. Bekhterev, and A.A. Ukhtomsky) and the Department Heads since 1936. Special emphasis is placed on the symbolic significance of the central art object, a sculpture of a dog, which highlights both the historical importance of Pavlov’s concepts and the ethical dimensions of experimental research. Using the case ofA.V. Zavyalov as an example, the article demonstrates how the museal exposition reflects the key paradigms in the development of Russian physiology in the 20th century: from the predominance of
conditioned-reflex methodology to the emergence of systemic approaches.