University of Medicine and Pharmacy Victor Babes Faculty of Medicine, Romania

The Victor Babeș University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timișoara is located in Timișoara, Romania. It was named in honor of the scientist Victor Babeș. The “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, was first founded as a modest faculty, part of the initial Western University, following the Decree-Law No. 660, issued and signed by His Majesty King Michael I of Romania, on 30th December 1944; the inauguration of the new faculty took place on 15 July 1945.

There were 412 students enrolled in the first year and 76 students in the second year, transferred from other universities, compared with 4237 students in the academic year 2000-2001. The first class graduated in 1949, counting 70 graduate students.Since the school opened, 24,366 graduates, of whom 4,284 foreigners, have successfully completed their medical studies at the University of Timișoara.

More than 25,000 students have graduated from the Timisoara medical school, including a fair number of foreign students from all over the world.

The “Victor Babeş” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara has three faculties, which in turn have several sub-specialisations: the Faculty of Medicine (Medicine, Registered nurses, Balneo-physio-kinetotherapy and recuperation, Radiology and imaging, Nutritionand Dietetics), the Faculty of Dental Medicine (Dental Medicine, Dental Technique, Registered nurses in dentistry), the Faculty of Pharmacy (Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical assistants).

The university has its own library, an IT study centre, a department of computer sciences and two laboratories of medical informatics.The Faculty of Medicine has undergone a permanent metamorphosis, despite all difficulties it had to face. At present, the “Victor Babes” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Timisoara, with a past that recommends it as one of the most prestigious institutions of higher education.

A university lives through its students and its teaching staff and it acquires fame through its academic environment and through the results it can show the world. One of the main goals of the Faculty of Medicine is to train competent and skilled physicians. This goal implies thorough knowledge of general medicine, one of the most difficult medical specialties, combining clinical aspects with fundamental research. Starting from these premises, all the subjects studied in the Faculty of Medicine are considered equally important.

Currently, the university has at its disposal 8 hostels, placed either in the close proximity of the university, or in the university campus. Meals were served at the Territorial Military Center and then at the canteen of the Polytechnic Institute until October 1945, when the university founded its own canteen, which today is able to provide meals for 900 people per day. Furthermore, in October 1945 the “Banatia” building, which had suffered considerable damage during World War II, was acquired, but this did not hinder the enthusiasm of the students of those days, and through considerable voluntary efforts contributed to a minimum organization of the building. Today, the university comprises a total of 8 buildings (the former “Banatia” being the main quarters of the university) in which different disciplines carry on their specific everyday activities.The clinical teaching started initially in 4 hospitals, but today, students are being trained in more than 25 university clinics, belonging to 12 hospitals.