The university celebrated the 40th anniversary of its international medical training program with a series of events throughout the academic year 2022/2023. The editor-in-chief of this anniversary publication is Dr. István Gera, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Periodontology and former Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, who has been involved in the education of international students for 35 years, almost from the beginning. Each of the forty authors of this volume has contributed to the fact that today one third of Semmelweis University students come from a foreign country. In connection with the preparation of the volume, Dr. István Gera stressed that, in addition to the university leaders, they had asked some of the most eminent academics for a contribution, who recall in a personal tone the launch of the training program, the recruitment, and the events that have made the more than 250-year-old institution the leading medical school in Central and Eastern Europe as well as a truly international university.
The book opens with a welcome address by Rector Dr. Béla Merkely and closes with a contribution by Dr. Alán Alpár, Vice-Rector for International Studies. Among the authors are Dr. Veronika Ádám, member of the former Operational Committee for English-language Training Programs; Dr. Péter Pál Bucsky, former Rector’s Commissioner of the Asklepios Campus Hamburg, Semmelweis University; Dr. Miklós Csala, Head of the Directorate of International Studies; Dr. Attila Horváth, President of Local Board, McDaniel College Budapest; Dr. József Mandl, member of the former Operational Committee for English-language Training Programs; Dr. Karl J. Oldhafer, Rector’s and Dean’s Representative of the Asklepios Campus Hamburg; Dr. Pál Röhlich, member of the German Admission Committee; and many others, including former students of the university. The editors pay tribute to the work of Dr. Attila Fonyó and Dr. Anna Kádár with posthumous quotations.
The book covers five major topics: The “golden age” of medical programs in English and German, that is, the early years; international programs; international relations; recollections of teachers and alumni; and a summary of the International 40 series of events. A large part of the illustrations is from the private collection of Dr. István Gera. The professor emeritus added that although the jubilee year had come to an end, there would be an anniversary in 2024 as well: It was exactly 30 years ago, in 1994, that the first international students of the English-language program at both the Faculty of Medicine and the Faculty of Dentistry received their diplomas.
The staff of Semmelweis University’s Institute of Languages for Specific Purposes translated the text into English and German, and the trilingual publication was born. The editor-in-chief of the volume is Dr. István Gera, the editors are Dr. Alán Alpár, Vice-Rector for International Studies, and Dóra Szepesi, Head of the Directorate General of Marketing and Communication. The technical editor of the book is Boglárka Zita Somfai from the Center of International Training Programs. The volume was published by Semmelweis Publishing.
Eszter Keresztes
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
Photos by Bálint Barta – Semmelweis University
