Career · Medicine and health
Doctor
Finds out what is bothering a person, makes a diagnosis and prescribes treatment.
Career overview
What a day looks like
A doctor asks patients questions and examines them, orders tests, explains the treatment and fills in paperwork. There are night and weekend shifts, and hard cases where decisions have to be made fast.
Try it yourself this week
35 minutes
Make a home first-aid guide from a reliable source
- Choose three everyday situations: a cut, a burn from hot water, a nosebleed.
- Find out what to do from a reliable source: a school textbook, the Red Crescent website or a clinic's website. Don't take advice from comments.
- For each situation, write 3–4 short steps and one line: “when to call 103 or 112 urgently”.
- Show the guide to an adult and ask if everything is clear. Note which part was harder for you: working it out, or imagining blood and pain.
What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you're interested in how the body works and how to help someone — and how you feel about the unpleasant side: blood, pain, responsibility.
20 minutes
Measure your pulse before and after exercise and explain the difference
- Sit quietly for 3 minutes, find your pulse on your wrist or neck and count the beats for 15 seconds. Multiply by four and write it down.
- Do 20 squats at an easy pace. If you have any health limits or feel dizzy, stop — that's a result too.
- Measure your pulse right away, after 1 minute and after 3 minutes. Write down all the numbers.
- Draw a simple graph and look up in your biology textbook why the heart beats faster during exercise and how quickly it calms down.
What you'll learn about yourself: Whether you're curious about what happens inside the body — and enjoy turning how you feel into exact numbers.
What you can do next
Next 3 months
Make a first aid guide
Do the first aid guide task using a reliable source.
In six months
Take a first aid course
Find a first aid class at school or run by medical organisations, and take it together with adults.
In a year
Ask someone who does this job
With your parents or a teacher, find someone who does this job and ask what their working day is like and what the hardest part is.
What it pays
Pay varies by region, experience and employer. The figures below are approximate ranges from public sources.
Notes on sources are in Russian, as in the original source.
In Kazakhstan
- All levelsagency statement, as reported by the media
592,300 ₸ per month
before tax · data: Q2 2024 · checked: October 2026
По данным Минздрава (II квартал 2024) в пересказе Tengrinews: средняя зарплата врача — 592 300 ₸ с доплатами. Базовый оклад врача первой категории со стажем 13–16 лет: в городе 357 500, на селе 445 500 ₸. Данные 2024 года.
Source: tengrinews.kz (opens in a new tab) - All levelsfrom job ads
250,000–800,000 ₸ per month
varies in job ads: some take-home, some before tax · data: October 2026 · checked: October 2026
Выборка из 8 вакансий врача общей практики и терапевта на hh.kz (01.10.2026), в основном частные клиники — в государственных поликлиниках вакансии выставляют реже. Начинающим (1–3 года) предлагают 250–500 тыс. ₸. Не статистика.
Source: almaty.hh.kz (opens in a new tab)
Where to study
Notes on sources are in Russian, as in the original source.
Universities
You apply after grade 11, based on your UNT results.
- КазНМУ имени Асфендиярова (opens in a new tab)
Almaty
Общая медицина
after grade 11UNT: Biology + Chemistry
The UNT, if you apply to university
Required subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy, Mathematical Literacy. Profile subjects for this career: Biology + Chemistry.
Programme group: B086 Медицина. Checked: October 2026.
Source: National Testing Centre list (opens in a new tab)How to get into college
College gets you a profession faster than university. You can apply after grade 9 or after grade 11.
- Colleges accept students both after grade 9 and after grade 11. After grade 9 you study longer — about 3 years 10 months; after grade 11, about 2 years 10 months. The exact length depends on the college and the specialty.
Source: kchk.edu.kz (opens in a new tab) - About 80% of students admitted to colleges in the 2024/25 school year study on a state order, which means in state-funded places (in 2023/24 it was about 70%). But each college and each specialty has its own number of state-funded places.
Source: inbusiness.kz (opens in a new tab) - There are also paid colleges. For example, training as a nurse at ADILMED costs 450,000 ₸ per year. Check the price and conditions on the college's website.
Source: adilmed.kz (opens in a new tab)
UNT: which subjects to take for university
The UNT (Unified National Testing) is Kazakhstan's national university entrance test. You need it to get into university after grade 11.
- The UNT 2026 has three compulsory subjects: History of Kazakhstan, Reading Literacy and Mathematical Literacy. On top of these, you take two profile subjects, chosen to match your specialty.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - In total, the test has 120 questions (maximum 140 points) and you get 4 hours. The format is the same as in 2025.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - Profile subjects depend on the group of specialties. For example: information technology — Mathematics and Computer Science; nursing and veterinary medicine — Biology and Chemistry; electrical engineering — Mathematics and Physics; law — World History and Fundamentals of Law. The full list is published by the National Testing Center.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - For creative specialties (for example, media and design), you take History of Kazakhstan and Reading Literacy through the UNT, and two creative exams at the university itself.
Source: testcenter.kz (opens in a new tab) - Some universities have their own admission rules. Nazarbayev University, for example, requires a UNT score of at least 85, a GPA of 4.0 and English at IELTS 6.0 level.
Source: nu.edu.kz (opens in a new tab)
Courses and opportunities
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History of the career
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Well-known people in this field
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