The Senate approved the modifications to the medical curriculum, as well as the Hungarian, English and German-language curriculums for the 2019/20 academic year at the Faculty of Medicine (ÁOK). The proposal contained some clarifications and additions compared to the resolutions passed at the June and July meetings. The new curriculum will enter into effect in the current 2019/20 academic year, for first-, third-, fourth- and sixth-year students in the Hungarian-language medical doctoral program, and for first-, fourth- and sixth-year students in the English and German-language programs. The new resolution also includes clarifications to the curriculum of the Faculty of Dentistry (FOK). At this faculty, the new curriculum will replace the old one in a progressive system for first-year students and, following consultations with the student body, in years four and five. The curriculum reform is ongoing at the Faculty of Health and Public Administration as well; the Senate approved at its August meeting the modernization of the curriculums for the health sciences management degree program and the lactation consultant specialized training program.
Senators also approved the unified Study and Examination Policy (TVSZ) to be applied at every faculty, which will be applicable to students in both the Hungarian and the foreign-language programs. A working group led by Dr. Péter Hermann, vice-rector for education, worked for months on creating the unified TVSZ. Several rounds of consultations were held with the leaders of the various faculties regarding the new elements of the regulations to ensure that the rules also take into account the different needs stemming from the differences between the various training programs. The new TVSZ will enter into effect with the start of the new academic year.
The Charges and Benefits Policy for students was also amended, as the university’s system of scholarships will change both in form and in content on the occasion of the 250th anniversary year. New scholarships to be created will be the Ferenc Csík Sports Scholarship, named after the university’s first individual Olympic champion, the János Bókay Scholarship, the Schöpf-Merei Scholarship and the János Szentágothai Scholarship. In addition to the changes in scholarships, the Senate also integrates the tuition fees to be paid by students, which was also preceded by lengthy consultations.
The Senate also amended the conditions required to name research professors, which will make it easier among others for foreign professors to fill such positions. A proposal was also accepted declaring that students taking part in the Summer Course to be held between September 4-7 will receive a maximum of three credits. The Senate decided that on special occasions – such as the 250th anniversary year – two individuals will be able to receive simultaneously the Ignác Semmelweis Award, named after the university’s namesake.
Decisions were also made to create several new organizational units within the Faculty of Medicine. A new Department of Transfusion Medicine will be set up, which is supported by the increase in the subject’s significance: starting with the 2019/20 academic year, transfusiology will be separate, two-credit course taught for medical students. The Department of Rehabilitation Medicine will be created by upgrading the current departmental group to its own department, thanks to an ongoing cooperation with the National Medical Rehabilitation Center, while rehabilitation will get its own separate course in the new curriculum. A new Institute of Translational Medicine will be created, by merging the Institute of Clinical Experimental Research and the Institute of Pathophysiology. The main task of the new institute will be conducting translational research in close cooperation with other departments, as well as the teaching of the new courses of translational medicine and pathophysiology, and EKG in clinical practice. As part of the Városmajor Heart and Vascular Center, a new Department of Interventional Radiology will be set up, as the first such department in Hungary. The above organizational units are to be created as of September 1. As of September 5, the new Department of Medical Imaging will be created, with the merger of the Department of Radiology, the Department of Nuclear Medicine, and the MR Research Center. Within the new, integrated clinic, three teaching departments will be set up: the Department of Radiology, the Department of Nuclear Medicine, and the Department of Neuroradiology. A new Department of Bioinformatics in set to be established on January 1, 2020, with the goal of becoming a national leader in education, research and services related to the fields of medicine and bioinformatics. In line with the changing needs and developments of the profession, the Department of Vascular Surgery will be renamed the Department of Vascular and Endovascular Surgery.
The Senate also provided its opinions and made decisions in various personnel matters across the university.
Pálma Dobozi
Translation: Tamás Deme
