Semmelweis University has made significant progress in recent years in expanding its professional portfolio through the integration of traumatology, rehabilitation, neurosurgery, and neurointerventional care. However, further steps have become necessary to increase the efficiency of healthcare in Central Hungary and to complete the university’s training portfolio.
This integration is as beneficial for the university as it is for the national institutes joining us and, consequently, for the patients, too. In this multidisciplinary environment, where education, research, and patient care form a unity, these specialties can operate more efficiently, and the related research in health sciences can also come to the fore, emphasized Rector Dr. Béla Merkely.
In addition, as a leading institution of higher education in medicine, it is particularly important for Semmelweis University to incorporate all disciplines into its training structure; therefore, we take every opportunity when policymakers decide to expand the university in certain specialties, he added.
With the integration of OMINT, the full spectrum of musculoskeletal care will be available in a multidisciplinary setting within a single institution, in addition to elective orthopedic and acute traumatology surgical interventions and rehabilitation.
All this contributes to further improving the quality of patient care, developing a comprehensive educational unit covering the entire field of rheumatology-immunology, and enhancing scientific output, thus continuing to strengthen Semmelweis University’s international embeddedness and position in the rankings.
The body of knowledge is being accumulated, the scope of education is expanding, the university’s academic performance is improving, and so are its rankings and reputation, says the rector. In some areas, Semmelweis is already ranked among the top 50 institutions in the world; for example, it is placed 31st in cardiovascular research and care.
Pursuant to the decision of the Hungarian National Assembly, Semmelweis University has become the legal successor of the National Musculoskeletal Institute for outpatient and inpatient rheumatology-immunology care. As a result, the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, which is part of the university’s Clinical Center, is responsible for the rheumatology-immunology care of OMINT outpatients and inpatients from March this year.
Successful integrations
The National Musculoskeletal Institute (OMINT) was established in 2021 through the merger of two previously separate institutions, the National Institute of Rheumatology and Physiotherapy (ORFI) and the National Institute of Medical Rehabilitation (OORI). The latter joined Semmelweis University a year ago, on March 1, 2024, on the same day as the National Institute of Mental Health, Neurology and Neurosurgery (OMIII) on Amerikai Street. Thanks to the integrations, Semmelweis University’s healthcare, research, and education profile has been expanded with three new specialties, rehabilitation, neurosurgery, and neurointervention, which had been previously represented only partially in the patient care portfolio. Before that, as of November 2023, the Merényi Gusztáv site of the South Pest Centre Hospital – National Institute of Hematology and Infectology had been successfully integrated with the university to provide traumatology care.
Éva Haiman
Translation: Judit Szabados-Dőtsch
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
