This year the Frigyes Korányi College for Advanced Studies celebrates the 40th anniversary of its foundation. On this occasion, the hall is organizing a series of lectures called “Hársfa 40” – linden, named after the street in which the hall is located – that is open to all students throughout the academic year, with the Rector’s Forum in the Basic Medical Science Center (EOK) as the opening event, said Simon Tusnády, the chief organizer from the hall, in his introduction. He added that “Hársfa,” founded in 1985 on the initiative of students, was the third oldest hall of its kind in the country, open only to students of Semmelweis University. Csenge Gecsey, President of the Students’ Union (HÖK), pointed out that the forum was living proof that the university’s leadership valued students’ opinion and direct dialogue.
At the beginning of the event, Dr. Béla Merkely gave a presentation summarizing the most important information about Semmelweis University, including its position in the rankings and its international embeddedness. He emphasized that thanks to the curricular reform, education at the university – in a way that was unique in Hungary – had become practice-oriented, and its quality was guaranteed by the ever-expanding network of patient care institutions at Semmelweis. One thousand researchers and thirty research groups are working to enhance scientific excellence, and the number of active PhD students is growing dynamically, as are the number and citation rate of publications. Semmelweis University’s vision is to be among the world’s top 100 universities, to train the best doctors and healthcare professionals in Europe, and to be the region’s engine of innovation in health and pharmaceuticals, the rector concluded.
In response to questions sent in advance and asked on the spot, Dr. Béla Merkely said that this year around HUF 50 billion was available for infrastructure development, the largest amount in the history of the institution.
The construction site has been handed over and the expansion of EOK (the so-called EOK 2 project) could be completed by 2027, which will further increase student and teaching space. The development of the National Training Center for Medical Innovation (NOIKK) is underway, which will be a training and research facility of outstanding capacity even at an international level, providing space – among other things – for teaching cadaveric and robotic surgery procedures, the rector said, citing two examples of investments.
Speaking of the expansion of the patient care network, he recalled that from November 2023, the university’s portfolio had been enriched with new areas such as traumatology, rehabilitation, neurosurgery, and neurointervention, and from March 1, with the integration of the National Musculoskeletal Institute (OMINT), rheumatology, physiotherapy, and immunology had also been added. From an educational point of view, this also means a broadening of the scope of practice.
On the subject of study opportunities abroad, the rector, referring to his own career-shaping experience in Heidelberg, said that the university’s leadership supported the idea that everyone should spend at least a few months abroad and return home with experience which often provided new perspectives. From June 1, 2024, the Pannónia Scholarship Programme has replaced Erasmus to provide this opportunity. It even allows for mobility programs of a few weeks only, which the rector said could be used to cover part of the summer internship or sixth-year placement. As for the recognition of internships abroad, the rector said he was in favor of flexibility, with appropriate assessment of the knowledge acquired. (Our article on the scholarship program is available here.) It was also pointed out that the Jellinek Harry Scholarship to Heidelberg, which had been an exceptional opportunity for fifth-year and PhD students for decades, was open for application until the end of April this year.
In response to questions about education and the curricular reform, which has been speeded up even more this year, the rector stressed that it was very important to stand by the patient, to be able to draw blood, puncture a vein, perform cardioversion (restoration of a regular heart rhythm) if necessary, and to get used to the clinical environment. He said that the assessment of clinical education and knowledge was at least as important as that of theoretical knowledge.
There is no substitute for examining the patient and for performing small but firm diagnostic interventions on them, he noted. With regard to the 90 percent compulsory attendance rate introduced last year, the rector emphasized that this was in the interests of the students and ultimately the patients, and that the aim of the university leadership was to ensure that everyone developed through training that was practical and close to patient care. At the same time, it was desirable for the teachers of practical courses to provide flexible opportunities for catching up. As the rector said to the students present:
Medical training is not comparable to training in any other discipline, and the quality of the training, what kind of professionals students become, is specifically proportional to the time spent with patients, on practice, and on scientific research, and therefore it needs to be invested in. This is not an easy way of life and profession, but it is an interesting and uplifting one. – Dr. Béla Merkely
Pálma Dobozi
Translation: Dr. Balázs Csizmadia
Photos by Bálint Barta – Semmelweis University
