Vezető szerepet tölt be a magyarországi négy orvosképző egyetem sorában, valamint az Európai Unióban is a Semmelweis Egyetem neve vetődik fel először, ha a magyar egészségügyi felsőoktatásról esik szó. Az egyetemes orvostudomány élvonalában, nemzetközi és hazai elismertség mellett látja el hármas feladatát: oktatás, gyógyítás, kutatás.
A Semmelweis Egyetem Európában egyedülálló módon három nyelven oktat: magyarul, angolul és németül. A 11.000 főt meghaladó hallgatóságának 20%-a a német vagy az angol nyelvű képzésben vesz részt.
A Semmelweis Egyetem múltja egészen 1769-ig vezethető vissza, amikor is Mária Terézia királynő átfogó, birodalmi szintű egészségügyi reformja részeként megalakította az akkor Nagyszombaton működő magyar egyetem negyedik karaként az orvosi fakultást. Az intézmény életében röviddel ezután költözések sora következett: 1777-ben Budára, majd 1784-ben Pestre. Az 1780. március 25-én kiadott, az egyetem "Magna Chartájának" is nevezett Diploma Inaugurale az általános rendelkezések mellett rögzítette az egyetem jogállását és fenntartásának anyagi alapjait. A XVIII. sz. végétől tanszékek sora jött létre, s az intézmény a XIX. században mind szakmai súlyát, mind pedig fizikai kiterjedését tekintve jelentős fejlődésnek indult: nagy beruházások, a mai klinikai központok kialakulása, meghatározó orvosi iskolák létrejötte jellemezte ezt az időszakot egészen a XX. század elejéig.
A történelem viharai nem kímélték az egyetemet. Budapest 1944-es ostroma, de még inkább az '56-os forradalom harcai hatalmas háborús károkat okoztak, melyek helyreállítása csak jóval később fejeződött be. 1950-ben az egyetem neve Pázmány Péter helyett Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetemre változott. 1969. november 7-én az orvoskar alapításának 200. évfordulóján az egyetem felvette Semmelweis Ignác nevét. A Semmelweis Orvostudományi Egyetemre az 1970-es évektől külföldi hallgatók is növekvő számban jöttek tanulni: 1983-ban németül, majd 1989-ben angolul is megindult az oktatás.
A 2000. január 1-jén életbe lépett egyetemi integráció az intézmény nevét Semmelweis Egyetemre változtatta. Az egyetemet 2010-től hat kar alkotja: az Általános Orvostudományi Kar, az Egészségtudományi Kar, a Fogorvostudományi Kar, a Gyógyszerésztudományi Kar, a Testnevelési és Sporttudományi Kar, valamint az Egészségügyi Közszolgálati Kar.
Semmelweis University English Language Program
The basic aim of the University is to train medical and dental doctors and pharmacists who are able to provide safe and effective professional care.
The University maintains high academic standards and a curriculum with up-to-date technical and health care requirements. The University trains graduates who are capable of functioning effectively both in individual or group practices. The University has a leading role in academic research in Hungary, providing - through its Ph.D. doctoral programs - highly qualified researchers for future generations. The University monitors and facilitates University Development Programs and assists the promotion of its university members. The University is the main field of life-long continuing education and is responsible for the scientific and professional merits of health care in Hungary. The University is also the largest hospital and polyclinic in Hungary and provides a large part of the specialty care for Hungarian citizens. The University is responsible for Public Health Programs and prophylaxis. The University's PR activity and participation in several governmental, municipal and civic organizations and counselling bodies serves the interest of the profession and also the well-being of every patient.
FACTS AND FIGURES
Semmelweis University has a more than 240-year old tradition of academic excellence and commitment to the education of physicians. Among Semmelweis alumni are Nobel-laureates, world renowned researchers and clinicians. As for foreign students, 2009's enrolment at the Faculty of Medicine was 1,667 students, at the Faculty of Dentistry 292, and at the Faculty of Pharmacy 132. Four percent of all medical students are foreign citizens studying in Hungarian. A special German-language Doctor of Medicine program has 550 German students enrolled, while the programs in English have altogether 1419 students registered at three faculties. The University Hospitals have 2100 beds and admit about 156,000 in-patients annually. The outpatient departments care for approximately 2.1 million patients each year. Research programs at the Preclinical and Clinical Departments are sponsored by the University, the Ministry of Education, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, by many national and international grants.
ACCREDITATION
As a state university Semmelweis University functions under the auspices of the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. The University is listed in the WHO's directory of Medical Schools. The faculties of the University were reaccredited by the Hungarian Accreditation Board in 2006. The decision of the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation of the USA declares: The standards and processes used by the Hungarian Accreditation Council to accredit medical schools in Hungary are comparable to those used to accredit medical schools in the United States.
INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION OF THE DEGREES
European Union: In those professions where the conditions of education in Hungary are identical with those in the European Union, and these have already been recognized (medical and dental doctors, pharmacists etc.), the member states of the European Union are obliged to accept the diplomas issued in Hungary, independent of the language of tuition.
USA: Semmelweis graduates (as foreign graduates) have the right to pass the United States Medical Licensing Examinations (USMLE), after which they are eligible for residency.
Canada: Semmelweis graduates are eligible to pass the Medical Council of Canada Evaluation Examination (MCCEE) and the Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination (MCCQE) before applying for residencies.
Israel: Semmelweis graduates have to complete a one-year practice and pass a test before they are eligible for obtaining the permit to practice medicine.
India: Doctor of Dentistry degree of Semmelweis University is equivalent to B.D.S. degree in India.
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES
Cardinal Péter Pázmány founded the predecessor of the present day University in 1635 at Nagyszombat (today Trnava in Slovakia), his bishop seat. On November 7, 1769 Queen Maria Theresa of Austria-Hungary attached a Faculty of Medicine to the former Faculties (Theology and Jura). The new Faculty was moved to Buda in 1777. The "Diploma Inaugurale" which stated the rights of the University and allocated the necessary financial means was signed in 1780. After a few years, the University moved to the other side of the Danube, to Pest. (Buda and Pest were independent cities at that time). In 1848, at the time of the National War of Independence , the former University of Nagyszombat became a National University.
The establishment of the present clinical departments and theoretical institutes started at the end of the 19th century at their present location in Budapest. These buildings are still in use after reconstruction and modernization. New clinics and institutes were built during the 20th century. In 1951, the Faculty of Medicine was reorganized into an independent medical school, and the institutional name was changed to Budapest University of Medicine. In 1955, Faculties of Dentistry and Pharmacy were incorporated into the University. Ignác Semmelweis. In 1969, the name of the University was changed to Semmelweis University of Medicine. The new name honors Ignác Semmelweis who discovered the cause of puerperal fever and was a professor and chairman on the Faculty of Medicine at the present 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Today, Semmelweis University incorporates the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Physical Education and Sports Sciences and Health Care. Semmelweis University was the first Hungarian higher educational institution, which, in addition to educate at the above faculties in Hungarian, started to offer an international program at the Faculty of Medicine in German in 1983, while its international program in English started in 1987, at the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy.
