History

   On 15 October 1939, on the initiative of the President of Latvia and with the support of the Daugavpils City Council, the only three-year school for Sisters of Mercy and Midwives was established in Latgale. The statutes stated that the aim of this school was to provide theoretical and practical training for educated nurses (Sisters of Mercy) and midwives in patient care.

   In 1939, the admission regulations for the Daugavpils School of Sisters of Mercy and Midwives were adopted, stating that students aged 18 to 30 with secondary education could be admitted.

   Interest in the new school was high: more than 80 candidates applied, but only 20 were admitted. Studies followed a three-year programme including both theoretical and practical training. The Daugavpils School of Sisters of Mercy and midwives was the only institution of this type in Latgale. In October 1943, the second graduation took place at the nursing school established by the Health Department at the Daugavpils United Hospital. Twelve students graduated from the Daugavpils School of Nursing.

   In 1945, the Daugavpils School of Nursing began operations in Daugavpils. The city council provided the school with a building on Varšavas Street. Admission to the Daugavpils School of Nursing took place in August 1945, with 54 students enrolling that year. The duration of study was 2 years, and the school organized a nursing department with both Latvian and Russian groups.

   In the 1946-47 academic year, the school enrolled 56 students between the ages of 15 and 25 who had completed seven, eight, or nine years of basic education. In 1947, 72 students studied at the school. The first post-war graduation took place in 1947, with 32 students receiving the qualification of medical nurse.

   In 1954, the Daugavpils School of Nursing was reorganised and renamed Daugavpils Medical School. From that year onward, the training of nurses was discontinued, and the school began preparing feldshers (modern equivalent: physician assistants) to work in rural feldsher stations and urban health centres.

   From 1958, the school resumed the training of medical nurses and continued educating feldshers (physician assistants). From the 1960s until the early 1980s, the school additionally trained nurse-educators for preschool institutions. Students were required to attend lectures in uniform – blue dresses with white aprons and white caps.

   In 1974, a new academic building was constructed. Four years later, in 1978, a dormitory with 400 beds was opened at 5A Miera Street (now 3/5 Miera Street). The number of students grew annually, reaching a peak of 850 during the 1987/1988 academic year.

   In 1988, the feldsher department at Daugavpils Medical School was closed. Since 1990, the school has implemented the vocational education programme “Nursing” with the qualification of “Nursing Assistant.”

   Starting from the 1993/1994 academic year, only applicants with secondary education were admitted to the nursing programme, and studies were conducted in the official state language (Latvian). From 1999 to 2001, Daugavpils Medical School implemented the educational programme “Social Care”.

   In 2004, Daugavpils Medical School was registered as Daugavpils Medical College and came under the supervision of the Ministry of Education and Science.

   The Nursing study programme was launched in accordance with the licence issued in 2004. In 2006, the school introduced the Medicine and Social Care study programmes under the licences granted that year. The licence for the “Social Rehabilitation” study programme was issued in 2007.

   In 2018, the college was reorganized and received its current name: Daugavpils University Agency “Daugavpils University Daugavpils Medical College”.

   The college continued implementing the study programmes: “Nursing” with the qualification “Nurse”, “Medicine” with the qualification Doctor’s Assistant”, “Social Care” with the qualification “Social Caregiver”, “Social Rehabilitation” with the qualification “Social Rehabilitator”, and the vocational education programme “Nursing” with the qualification “Nursing assistant”.

   From 2016 to 2020, the Medical College implemented the vocational secondary education programme “Child Care” (qualification: Childcare Assistant) as part of the “Youth Guarantee” project.

   The short-cycle professional higher education study programme “Therapeutic Massage” with the qualification “Massage Therapist” was licensed in 2018. In 2020, the college began implementing a new short-cycle professional higher education programme “Aesthetic Cosmetology” with the qualification “Beauty Specialist (in Cosmetology)”. In 2023, the college licensed another short-cycle professional higher education study programme “Medicine” with the qualification “Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant”.

Until 2020, the college offered the Nursing study programme, leading to the qualification of Nurse.
Currently, the college implements seven short-cycle professional higher education programmes and one vocational education programme.
The college currently operates in two buildings in Daugavpils: at 26A Varšavas Street and 3/5 Miera Street.