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About Zagreb School of Medicine

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Last Updated on Thursday, 01 April 2010 20:12

University of Zagreb School of Medicine

Is the biggest and the oldest medical school in the Republic of Croatia, which was celebrating its 90th anniversary last year. At the moment there are 1,700 students at the graduate program of medical studies sitting for their degree, with 150 students enrolled into the graduate program of Medical Studies in English, together with 630 postgraduate students attending the program of doctoral studies, as well as diverse postgraduate specialist studies.

The University of Zagreb School of Medicine is devoted to its mission of educating prospective physicians who will be equally successful in their realization as practicing physicians, educators or researchers. Our objective is to attract extraordinary students who are deeply motivated to learn and improve their knowledge of medical science, health care, as well as to continuously build upon their professional development; they should be equally knowledgeable of theoretical and practical, as well as psychological, sociological, economical and cultural factors that are influencing health and disease.

Our students should also become proficient in basic clinical skills relevant for the benefit of their patients, as well as to acquire and demonstrate attitudes needed for the development of compassionate and open-minded approach to patients. The Zagreb School of Medicine is offering a student-centered program, integrating the basic medical sciences with the highest standards of clinical education, professional and ethical principles, all applied through the best practices of medical education. We are trying to create intellectually stimulating environment and promote both the scientific and altruistic aspects of medical profession. At the postgraduate level we are trying to additionally improve knowledge and skills needed for appropriate diagnosing and treatment of patients. Simultaneously, we are also incorporating the highest ethical principles into the physician’s code of behavior, as well as stressing the importance of lifelong learning concept in medical education

The concept of internalization of medical education has been deeply rooted in the University of Zagreb School of Medicine since its foundation in 1917. The founders of our School came from different European centers of academic excellence and transferred their expertise to the newly fledged institution. Since that time, the Zagreb School of Medicine has tried to preserve and maintain this continuity in transferring the latest trends in medical education and teaching by adding to it the specific creative component of its faculty. In doing so, it has thus achieved its present integration into the international community of medical schools. In its determination to raise the standards of medical education and introduce a new culture of teaching, the university of Zagreb School of Medicine decided to join the growing number of medical schools in Central and Eastern Europe which offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs in English by establishing its own English program. The program attracted its first generation of students in the academic year 2003/04, and this generation is completing their course of studies in this academic year with a growing number of their international colleagues motivated for joining the program.

The teaching takes place at the institutes of basic sciences, numerous clinical departments and community health centers, where we are trying to achieve balance between teaching and research in the context of evidence-based clinical practice. In order to present our students with all aspects and levels of health care delivery and continuity of care for their patients, a multidisciplinary approach was developed particularly stimulating the collaboration with various health care institutions and family physicians. Finally, we want to prepare our students for all challenges of modern medicine at all levels of their medical education.

A number of research and study facilities are based at the School of Medicine with funding from Croatian and international sources. Recently, the University Center for Translational and Clinical Research at School of Medicine and University Hospital Center Zagreb was founded. The Center consists of several units focused on clinical and translational research, based on a well-phenotyped populations of patients and application of basic laboratory, molecular and genomic investigation, enabling also the collaborative research.

A part of Welcoming letter from www.mef.hr by Professor Davor Miličić, M.D,PhD. Dean of Zagreb School of Medicine