Nearly 700,000 Russian doctors and 1.5 million nurses are marking their professional holiday on Sunday. The Day of Medical Worker traditionally falls on the third Sunday of June.

This Sunday will be a holiday for those who take care of the patients in more than 10,000 hospitals and 21 polyclinics and work at 3,200 first-aid stations.

On the eve of Day of Medical Worker the best representatives of the Russian medical community were awarded the “Vocation” national prize for their top-class professionalism.

“Making medical services available to broader masses of people, the improvement of the quality of medical aid and the prevention and treatment of diseases are the priority areas for developing public health in the Russian Federation in the next few years,” Russian Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov said at a ceremony on Saturday. He also stressed the need of raising the prestige of the medical profession so that its position in society reflected its true significance.

Today, thousands of young Russian citizens want to become doctors. The number of school leavers who want to be admitted to 60 medical institutes across Russia grows from year to year.

MOSCOW, June 19 (Itar-Tass)