Background and Aim: Since russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukrainian medical education has had to combine academic continuity with direct response to humanitarian and healthcare needs. At Bogomolets National Medical University, student volunteering became an important form of early professional exposure: students joined humanitarian logistics, hospital-oriented charity projects, blood donation initiatives, premedical training and support for military personnel, internally displaced persons and residents of frontline or de-occupied areas. The aim of the study was to analyse early practice and volunteering as methods of professional formation in medical education under the crisis.

Materials and Methods: The authors conducted a descriptive analysis of institutional volunteering and early-practice activities at Bogomolets NMU. The paper focuses on student participation in humanitarian, medical, educational and community-oriented initiatives during war crisis, with attention to pedagogical, ethical and psychological aspects.

Results: Since the onset of the full-scale war, Bogomolets NMU students and tutors have participated in humanitarian aid collection and logistics, delivery of medicines and essential goods, support for healthcare institutions, charity fundraising for hospitals, donor mobilisation through the BLOOD+ initiative, and premedical training adapted to wartime conditions. Students also joined volunteer trips with medical teams to de-occupied communities and supported military personnel, Territorial Defence units, internally displaced persons, people from frontline areas. These activities helped students connect theoretical knowledge with real social and clinical needs, develop responsibility, empathy, teamwork, communication skills and professional identity. Volunteering also strengthened civic engagement and resilience. However, challenges included emotional overload, safety risks, unequal access to volunteer opportunities, insufficient supervision and the need for structured educational recognition of volunteer-based learning.

Conclusions: Early clinical exposure and volunteering can strengthen professional formation in wartime medical education. The Bogomolets NMU experience demonstrates that student volunteering may become a meaningful educational pathway when supported by supervision, psychological care and integration into competency-based medical training.