Victor Babeş University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timişoara

Infobox_University


name = Victor Babeş University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timişoara
Romanian Name = Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie "Victor Babeş", Timişoara
Savant/Patron = Victor Babeş
motto = “A University lives by its students and its staff” "A University wins its prestige by the academic atmosphere and by the achievements of life it presents in front of the world."
established = 15th Of July, 1945
type = Public School
calendar = Semester
rector = Ştefan I. Drăgulescu MD, PhD
city = Timişoara
state = Timiş County
country = Romania
faculty = 710
enrollment = 4273 + 24366 Alumni
nickname = UMFT
website = [http://www.umft.ro/ www.umft.ro]
mascot = undecided
school colors = undecided
front view = The Victor Babeş University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timişoara ("Universitatea de Medicină şi Farmacie "Victor Babeş", Timişoara") or Victor Babeş University of Medicine and Pharmacy is located in Timişoara, Romania.

History and foundation

The school was founded as a modest faculty on 30 December 1944, when King Michael I of Romania signed decree-law nr. 660,:

"Art. 1. - The West University is founded on the date of publication of this hereby law, having the following faculties: Law, Literature and Philosophy, Sciences, Human medicine, Veterinary medicine, Pharmacology and Theology."

The inauguration of the new university took place on 15 July 1945 and classes started 3 days later in the Notre Dame building (today the Students' House) on Anatomy, Biochemistry, Physiology, Physiopathology, Histology, Microbiology and Parasitology.

There were 412 students enrolled in the first year and 76 students in the second year, transferred from other universities, compared with 4237 students in the academic year 2000-2001. The first class graduated in 1949, counting 70 graduate students.

Since then, 24,366 graduates, of whom 4,284 foreigners, have successfully completed their medical studies at the University of Timişoara. The first foreigner to study there did so in 1967-1968, when a single student from Yemen attended.

In the beginning, the building of a school was used for student lodging and, after a while, that purpose was served by the top floor of the university. Nowadays the university has at its disposal 8 hostels, placed either in the close proximity of the university, or in the university campus. Meals were served at the Territorial Military Center and then at the canteen of the Polytechnic Institute, until October 1945, when the university founded its own canteen, which today is able to provide the meals of 900 people per day. Furthermore in October 1945 the "Banatia" building was acquired, but due to the war it had suffered considerable damage. However this could not stop the enthusiasm of the students of those days, which through considerable voluntary efforts contributed to a minimum organization of the building. Today the university disposes of a total of 8 buildings (the former "Banatia" being the main quarters of the university) in which different disciplines carry on their specific every day activities.

The clinical teaching started initially in 4 hospitals, but today, students are being trained in more than 25 university clinics, belonging to 12 hospitals. In time, the evolution of the University was also marked by changes in its title: until 1948 - the Faculty of Medicine; between 1948-1990 - The Institute of Medicine, which immediate after 1948 included three faculties: General Medicine,Pediatrics andHygieneafter 1990 - the University of Medicine and Pharmacy and since 2001 the university proudly bares the name of the savant Victor Babes,who is rooted in Timisoara.

The modest Faculty of Medicine developed and matured in spite of all difficulties it faced throughout time. Today, the Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy is a prestigious institution of higher education, with a past that honours and a promising future that will for sure bring valuable results both in preparing new generations of young physicians, pharmacists and dentists and also in the medical assistance offered to the community.

Forms Of Education and Admissions

A. Long-term education:

I. Faculty of Medicine with the following specializations:

1. General medicine, day courses, studies are completed in 6 years, 350 places in the first year, plus 80 places at the English section

2. Physio-kinetotherapy, day courses, studies are completed in 5 years, 25 places.

II. Faculty of Dentistry, founded in 1963, specialization: dentistry, day courses, studies are completed in 6 years, 70 places.

III. Faculty of Pharmacy, founded in 1991, specialization: pharmacy, day courses, studies are completed in 5 years, 40 places.

B. Short-term educationMedical University College, founded in 1993, day courses, studies are completed in 3 years, with the following specializations:1. Prosthetic dentistry/ Technical school, 25 places2. Preventive dentistry, 15 places3. Clinical laboratory, 10 places4. Geriatrics, gerontology and social assistance for the elderly, 25 places.

Ever since its foundation, the Victor Babes University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Timisoara has provided medical education for 24.366 students out of which 4284 foreigners, from over 40 countries from all continents.

Today, there are 4273 students studying in the University, 1108 of them are foreigners coming from:
Albania, Austria, Bosnia, Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Italy, Kenya, Lesotho, Lebanon, Republic of Macedonia, Morocco, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Palestine, Moldova, United States of America, Syria, Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia, Ukraine, Yemen, Yugoslavia.

The long-term education for the Romanian students starts with a multiple choice admission test, that lasts 3,5 hours. At the end of the test the candidates are communicated their results. 30% of the final mark is made up of the high school graduation mark.

For the short-term education (college) the admission is based solely on the high school graduation mark.

Foreigner students can apply by:- full fee (own foreign currency expenses) directly to the university. The taxes mount up to 360 $ per month.- tax-free by order emitted by the Ministry of Education and Research- having been granted a scholarship by the state or other organizations, by order emitted by the Ministry of Education and Research.

Completion of studies is marked by the medical license exam, held at a national level and resulting in a License Diploma which grants them all the rights stated in the nowadays legislation. Short-term education is completed with a graduation examination resulting in a Graduation Diploma.

cientific and Medical Accomplishments

The Department of Medical Informatics, founded in 1984, was the first one in the country with this profile, both for undergraduate and Ph.D. level (since 1991). The department has several international collaborations with other European Universities - Erasmus Rotterdam, Manchester, Heidelberg. and in 1998 it co-ordinated a Tempus-Phare project on "Know-How Transfer from University to Industry". The head of this department is the Romanian representative in the Council of the European Federation of Medical Informatics.

The "Cristian Ṣerban" Clinical Center for Assessment and Rehabilitation of Children and Teenagers with Chronic Diseases has been built in Buzias at the initiative of Prof. Dr. Serban's family and is supported by the Bavaria state from Germany and other European charity organizations. It represents the largest center in the country for the medical care of diabetic and hemophilic patients. It also functions as one of the few postgraduate educational centers, in this field of pathology, from South-Eastern Europe.

The Departments of Pediatrics and Physiology have been equipped during 1999-2000 through the National Transplant Program, providing the means of approaching cellular therapies, especially stem cell therapy.

Thus on 5 June 2001, at the 3rd Pediatric Clinic, "Louis Ţurcanu" 3rd Clinical Hospital was performed, for the first time in Romania, a peripheral stem cell transplant to a 13 years old patient suffering of Hodgkin's Disease. Five weeks later the patient was dispensed, the transplant being considered a success.

12 October 2001 marked the beginning of the second stem cell transplant that succeeded as well and at this moment there are 2 more patients waiting to be submitted to the same procedure. The Department of Anatomy is teaching a fundamental scientific discipline in the medical didactic process (Anatomia clavis et clavus medicinae est) by means of modern facilities: closed TV transmission from the dissection rooms, modern casts and laboratory of plastination. The scientific research has as priorities: three-dimensional corrosion preparation, injection of radio isotopic, staining and radio-opaque substances.

The head of the department is the Honorific President of the Romanian Society of the Anatomists.

The Clinic of Orthopedics 2 - knee, ankle and shoulder orthopedic surgery, knee and shoulder endoprosthetics - combined approach for osteomyelitis by microsurgical reconstruction and calus distraction - cooperation with the 2nd Clinic of Surgery - orthopedic surgery for hemophilic patients- inauguration of a bone bank in 2001.

The Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases was founded in 1993 and since then it has achieved many national priorities in all its fields of activity:

Interventional cardiology1998 rotational atherectomy (special method to restore blood flow cutting the coronary atheroma)1998 approach of radialis artery for the cardiac catheterization1999 intravascular ultrasonography as a method to assess the severity of coronary stenosis1999 direct stenting in acute myocardial infarction Electrophysiology1998 implantation of new generation pacemakers1998 radio-frequency ablation of the abnormal pathway1999 implantable cardiac defibrillator for treating recurrent life threatening ventricular arrhythmiaCardiac surgery1999 heart transplantation in a child (13 years old)2000 cardiac procedure in a newborn child Exercise testing and rehabilitation1993 ergospirometry - cardiopulmonary exercise test using a digital method to determine the gasexchange during effort 1997 comprehensive cardiac rehabilitation program in patients after open-heart surgery.The ENT, Head and Neck Surgery Department has up to date equipment for bronchoscopy in children and adults, accomplishing the following national priorities: 1996 - CO2 Laser endoscopic microsurgery for benignand malignant laryngeal tumors.1997 - CO2 Laser epyglotectomy and supraglotic laryngectomy.- reconstructive middle ear surgery for otitis sequellae. - stapedotomy in the treatment of otosclerosisṢtephlon and titan prosthesis).- functional endoscopic sinus surgery2001 - the department was appointed National Center for Laser surgery in ENT. Scientific and Medical Accomplishments 32The "Cristian Ṣerban" Clinical CenterThe Clinic of Surgery 2 has a remarcable experience in the surgery of the thyroid (over 5000 cases) and esophagus reconstruction (over 70 cases) and medical priorities:- 1994 - laparoscopic surgery, only 7 years after the worldwide premiere in this field, with over 4000 diagnostic and therapeutic interventions, both in general and gynecologic surgerym - 1996 - percutaneous treatment of hidatic cyst of the liver- 1997 - reconstructive microsurgery with over 200 interventions in orthopedic, plastic and reconstructive, head & neck, vascular, thoracic and pediatric surgery- 2000 - modern center of training and research inlaparoscopic surgery and microsurgey.

The Pius Branzeu Center for Laparoscopic Surgery and Microsurgery is the only one of its kind in Romania, being dedicated exclusively to promoting modern techniques in surgery. The Pius Branzeu Center has a fully equipped surgery room, with five laparoscopic surgery units and a laboratory for experimental microsurgery. In the basement there is the modern animal house. Postgraduate courses:

- practice courses in laparoscopic surgery,- international practice courses of microsurgery (in collaboration with clinics from Germany, Greece and USA) Research:- experimental models of microsurgical tissue and organ transfer- mediators of ischemia and reperfusion injury- models of lymphatic cannulation in murines the head of the Microsurgery Departmnt is the Presidentof the Romanian Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery and member in the Editorial Committee of the journal "Microsurgery".National priorities at the Bega Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynecology:- 25 May 1995 - the first Romanian "in vitro" fertilization (IVF), followed on the 6th of February 1996 by the birth of the first child that resulted from techniques of assisted human reproduction- 583 IVFs with a success rate of 25%, comparable with the world's best centers of assisted human reproduction- 1998 - a surrogate mother gave birth of the first child after IVF followed by embryotransfer (ET)- 2001 - the oldest Romanian mother (50 years old) that gave birth to a child after IVF/ET- 2001 - the chief of staff was elected general Secretary of the Society for the Study of Pathology of the Pregnancy (EPH-Gestosis).

At the Department of Urology has been performed for the first time in Romania a kidney transplant from a living donor, on 31 March 1980 and a kidney transplant from a deceased donor, on the 25 May 1981. Difficult material conditions and lack of understanding from the authorities of those times have temporarily stopped this activity. However the transplants are being performed nowadays, ever since 1996, after a team of young enthusiasts specialized in clinics from Heidelberg,Freiburg, München, Lyon si Nantes. Other didactic and clinical achievements:

- therapy of the prostate adenoma by transuretheral endoscopic procedures in 95% of the cases (450 patients/year)- multimodal treatment of renal lithiasis - with high morbidity in Banat - by extracorporeal shock wave and percutaneous lithotripsy- medical online information center - 10 computers

Faculty of Dentistry - national priorities: - the first University Department of Implantology- the first titanium users- first users of lasers in dentistry- 1995 - Romanian Medical Academy award for the text book "Dental Materials", editor Prof. Dr. Dorin Bratu- 2000 - DentEd visit: recognition of best standards among Dental Schools in Europe 2000 - Prof. Dr. Doina Onisei nominated as peer reviewer by Dent Ed project of EU. 33 First Romanian stem cells transplant The first Romanian child that resulted from the techniques of human assisted reproduction.

Teaching hospital

*Spitalul Clinic Judeţean de Urgenţă Timişoara

tudent organization

SSMT or the Medical Students' Society from Timişoara

External links

* [http://www.umft.ro/ UMFVBT]
* [http://www.ssmt.ro/ SSMT]
* [http://www.unesco.org/iau/members_friends/mem_membinst1.html]