Top achievements

Semmelweis has the highest number of academics in the field of medicine and biomedical sciences among Hungarian universities.

Semmelweis University is the oldest medical school in Hungary, continuously operating since its foundation. The history of the university began more than 250 years ago, on 7 November 1769, when Maria Theresa added a medical faculty to the University of Nagyszombat. Education started in 1770 with five departments.

The very first Hungarian woman doctor, Vilma Hugonnai, defended her degree at the University of Zurich in order to practice her profession in Hungary. She passed her medical examinations (all three) in 1897 and was ordained on 30 April 1897. Sarolta Steinberger, who was the first female doctor to graduate from a Hungarian university, was also inaugurated at Semmelweis University on 3 November 1900. In 1906, Erzsébet Légrády became the first Hungarian woman to receive a doctorate in pharmacy from the university.

On 9 February 1847, just a few months after the first experiment at the Massachusetts Hospital in Boston, János Balassa successfully performed ether anaesthesia, which at that time was still called sulphuric anaesthesia, on four volunteers in front of a large audience at the University of Pest. The very first anaesthetic operation in Hungary was performed a day later by Ágost Schoepf-Merei on a four-year-old boy.

Hungary's most state-of-the-art PET-CT machine was handed over at the beginning of 2017, making Semmelweis University a socially funded PET-CT centre in Central Hungary. Thanks to the high sensitivity and large axial field of view of the PET-CT machine, the applicable radiopharmaceutical dose and patient exposure are lower and the PET scan time is shorter, reducing the risk of displacement during the scan and increasing patient comfort.

In 2011, Semmelweis University's Városmajor Heart and Vascular Centre was the first in the region to receive a 256-slice CT scanner representing the latest generation of cardiac CT scanners, and in 2018 it became one of the first in the world to receive a CT scanner that can take a full image of the coronary arteries and heart in a single heartbeat. Thanks to the many slices, both devices provide excellent image quality at low radiation doses.

One of its kind in Central Europe, a combined imaging and operating room, a so-called hybrid operating room, is located in Semmelweis University’s Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center. In this hybrid operating room, any cardiovascular surgical and/or catheterization procedure can be performed at the same time, with the same machine, without having to move or transport the patient.

Among Hungarian institutes of higher education, Semmelweis University’s scientific publication activity is the most significant in its field, based on relevant indicators. The number of scientific publications published a year is more than 1,500, while their effect on the scientific public, which can be measured by the number of citations, is 17,000 over a five-year period. The ratio of quality publications is the highest among all Hungarian universities. The ratio of high-prestige publications – i.e. those published in the top 10 percent of global publications in a given field – was 28% in 2021.

The university’s Department of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology contains a Human Brain Tissue Bank and Laboratory that is unique even on an international level, established by Dr. Miklós Palkovits, professor emeritus. The tissue bank provides the necessary samples on a national level to studies conducted under the National Brain Research Program.

Semmelweis University’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences is the country’s oldest independent faculty in this field, created in 1955. It has the highest number of students, highest average scores of those accepted, highest rate of over-application, and most students who marked this as their first choice.

In 2011, Semmelweis University was the first to launch, and remains the only one in Hungary to offer a German-language training program in pharmacy. Graduating students, along with their diplomas, also receive a professional doctorate in pharmacy, which is considered a curiosity even in Germany and Austria.

The Faculty of Dentistry is first in its field in Hungary in terms of the ratio of educators with academic degrees to students.

Sámuel Rácz, a professor of medicine who was also rector of the university’s legal predecessor, published the first Hungarian-language physiology textbook in 1789, titled “A Short Summary of Physiology,” which is also considered to be the first Hungarian-language university textbook. His work was aimed primarily at Master of Surgery students who did not speak Latin.

In 1993, Semmelweis University launched a health services management training project, and in 1995 was the first Hungarian university to establish a manager training institution in the field, called Health Services Management Training Center. Following three years of an experimental program, the first postgraduate specialist training course for health services managers started in September 1996 with 17 students, and operates today as a 120-credit Master’s program.

The Faculty of Health Sciences has the most students among all similar faculties in Hungary. The number of international students accepted to the nursing and patient care basic training program is the highest among all Hungarian institutions offering training in health sciences.

The annual number of graduates attaining professional qualifications is the highest by far at the Faculty of Health Sciences among all higher education institutions in Hungary that offer training in health sciences.

The Faculty of Health Sciences was the first higher education institution in Hungary to offer higher-level training for health care professionals.

The Senate of Semmelweis University established the Faculty of Health and Public Administration in 2008, which started in 2010 as the country’s first faculty that operates exclusively on the areas bordering medicine and health sciences on the one hand, and social and natural sciences in the widest possible sense on the other.

The success of the health services management basic training program (BSc), which was started in 2006, is indicated by the fact that while other Hungarian institutions also offer similar programs, most people choose the training provided by Semmelweis University. University-level training for health care IT managers, which was a precursor to this program, was established and started in Hungary by Semmelweis University.

In Hungary, conductor training is provided exclusively at the András Pető Faculty, and conductive pedagogy, all in one place from infancy to adulthood, is also available exclusively at the faculty’s teaching locations. The Pető method was the first to be awarded the intellectual hungaricum title in 2006 by the Hungaricum Club, and was also awarded the Hungarian Heritage Award and a Prima Award at the Prima Primissima gala in 2013 for its originality and uniqueness.

The Faculty of Health and Public Administration’ Institute of Mental Health is the first and only Hungarian university organizational unit that was established to deal with mental health care and prevention. Mental hygiene special training was launched in 1987, followed later by postgraduate specialist training. Spiritual counseling training has been available since 2002, which provides an opportunity for accredited postgraduate specialist training for those with ecumenical degrees. In 2015, the faculty was also the first to launch a Master’s program in mental health-oriented family studies and family therapy.

Semmelweis University conducts its patient care activities in accordance with the highest level of progressive patient care. Departments are located at the peak of progressive patient care and have an obligation on a national level to provide care in most professional fields, thus they play a crucial role in taking care of patients with the most severe conditions who require complex treatment. Making the appropriate medical diagnosis is aided by state-of-the-art equipment, and several procedures in certain fields (e.g. some organ transplants) are available only at Semmelweis University. 

Many first-time procedures in Hungary were carried out at Semmelweis University, such as the first successful kidney transplant (1973), liver transplant (1995) and heart transplant (1992). The first permanent artificial heart in Hungary was implanted here (2012), the first cardiac catheterization operation (2015), as well as the first keyhole surgery in children born with esophageal obstruction (2016) were performed at the university along with the first diaphragm pacing implantation (2018).

The first lung transplant in Hungary in adults (2015) was carried out in collaboration with the National Institute of Oncology, and the first lung transplant among children was performed in 2018.