Public university in Austria
The
Medical University of Vienna
(
German
:
Medizinische Universitat Wien
) is a public
university
located in
Vienna
,
Austria
. It is the direct successor to the
faculty of medicine
at the
University of Vienna
, founded in 1365 by
Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria
. As one of the
oldest medical schools in the world
, it is the oldest in the German-speaking countries, and was the second medical faculty in the
Holy Roman Empire
, after the
Charles University of Prague
.
The Medical University of Vienna is the largest medical organisation in Austria, as well as one of the top-level research institutions in
Europe
and provides Europe's largest hospital, the
Vienna General Hospital
, with all of its medical staff.
[1]
It consists of 31 university clinics and clinical institutes, and 12 medical-theoretical departments, which perform around 48,000
operations
each year. The Vienna General Hospital has about 100,000
patients
treated as inpatients and 605,000 treated as outpatients each year.
[2]
There have been seven
Nobel prize
laureates affiliated with the medical faculty, and fifteen in total with the University of Vienna. These include
Robert Barany
,
[3]
Julius Wagner-Jauregg
[4]
and
Karl Landsteiner
, the discoverer of the ABO
blood type
system and the
Rhesus factor
.
[5]
[6]
Sigmund Freud
qualified as a doctor at the medical faculty and worked as a doctor and lecturer at the General Hospital,
[7]
carrying out research into cerebral palsy, aphasia and microscopic neuroanatomy.
[8]
In the 2014?15 Times Higher Education Rankings, the Medical University of Vienna is listed among the top 15 medical schools in
Europe
and 49th in the world for category of Clinical, Pre-Clinical and Health.
[9]
In 2019, there were 8,217 applicants for 660 places in medicine proper and 80 in dentistry, which corresponds to an admission rate of about 9,01%
[10]
Admission is based upon ranking in an admission test called "MedAT", which is carried out every summer in conjunction with the three other public medical schools of Austria: the
Medical University of Graz
, the
Medical University of Innsbruck
and the Medical Faculty at the
Johannes Kepler University Linz
.
History
[
edit
]
Founding
[
edit
]
As the founding member of the
Alma mater Rudolfina
(
University of Vienna
) founded in 1365, the medical faculty was already widely renowned in
medieval
times as an authority in medicine. Faculty records from as far back as 1399 document its mediation in disputes between barber surgeons, midwives, and local landowners. During the reign of
Maria Theresia
, Viennese medicine first attained international significance. The Habsburg Monarch summoned the Dutch physician,
Gerard van Swieten
, to Vienna. He in turn laid the foundation for the Vienna Medical School and paved the way for other leading figures.
Anton de Haen
,
Maximilian Stoll
,
Lorenz Gasser
,
Anton von Storck
, and the discoverer of the
percussion
technique,
Leopold Auenbrugger
, all taught and conducted research in the imperial city. Based on longstanding traditions, what now is referred to as "bedside teaching" also became the paradigmatic educational method during this period.
When the Vienna General Hospital opened in 1784, physicians acquired a new facility that gradually developed into the most important research center. During the 19th century, the "Second Viennese Medical School" emerged with the contributions of physicians such as
Karl Rokitansky
,
Josef Skoda
,
Ferdinand von Hebra
and
Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis
. Basic medical science expanded and specialization advanced. Furthermore, the first
dermatology
,
eye
, as well as
otolaryngology
clinics in the world were founded in Vienna.
[11]
At the beginning of the 20th century, Viennese Medicine belonged to the first class internationally.
Clemens von Pirquet
defined the concepts of "allergy" and "serum sickness,"
Ernst Peter Pick
conducted significant experiments on the chemical specificity of immunological reactions, and the Vienna School of Dentistry (founded by
Bernhard Gotlieb
) reached its zenith in the 1920s. All four Nobel Prizes, which were granted to (former) Viennese physicians during the next decades
Robert Barany
(1914),
Julius Wagner-Jauregg
(1927),
Karl Landsteiner
(1930), and
Otto Loewi
(1936)], were the result of work undertaken at this time. The excellent tradition and research extended well into the
First Austrian Republic
. Under the auspices of the Medical Association of Vienna, which was founded in Vienna, well-received postgraduate courses for doctors worldwide were organized into the 1930s.
During the Second World War
[
edit
]
With the annexation of Austria by
National Socialist Germany
on 13 March 1938 the darkest phase in Viennese medicine began. More than half of the university medical instructors, mostly those of
Jewish
descent, and 65% of Viennese physicians were dismissed. Many renowned researchers, physicians, and students were forced to
emigrate
or died in
concentration camps
and under other tragic circumstances.
[12]
After the Second World War
[
edit
]
In the aftermath of
World War II
difficult years lay ahead of the university. The past glory had faded considerably. Moreover, 75% of all university medical instructors had to be dismissed because of their moderate to heavy involvement with the National Socialist regime. They were gradually replaced by a newly trained generation of educators. This double rupture in Viennese Medicine, which occurred in just a few years, caused repercussions that lasted for long after the war.
[13]
From the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Vienna to the Medical University of Vienna
[
edit
]
After the independence of the medical faculty as an independent institution the newly founded pure medical university could reposition itself in international research and regain international recognition.
[14]
For example, in the fields of
bionic reconstruction
, some notable results could be achieved. A
British
soldier who lost his arm during the
Afghanistan war
received a bionic reconstruction at the department of surgery of the
Vienna General Hospital
.
[15]
[16]
Furthermore, the Vienna General Hospital and Medical University of Vienna are the largest centre for lung transplantation in Europe and the second-largest lung transplantation centre worldwide after the
University of Pittsburgh
. Up until 2009, over 1,000 lung transplants had been performed and currently about 100 transplantations are carried out per year.
[17]
The Medical University of Vienna is the reference center of
Siemens
for the seven
Tesla
magnetic resonance imaging
scanner "MAGNETOM 7T". Founded in 2003, the High Field MR Centre (HFMR) acts today as a core research facility for the Medical University of Vienna. It combines basic research and development of methods with a strong focus on applications in neuroscience, musculoskeletal research, oncology and metabolism. The declared goal is to validate the potential of ultra-high field (UHF) MRI in clinical applications.
[18]
Programmes
[
edit
]
Medical University of Vienna Study Programmes
Type
|
Requirements
|
Degree
|
Medicine
|
Both have a duration of 6 years and require higher education entrance qualification, i.e.,
Matura
in
Austria
and
Switzerland
,
Abitur
in
Germany
or similar qualifications from other
EU
countries
The language of instruction is
German
, but students are expected to be able to be fluent in
English
, and a diploma thesis written in German or English is required
|
"Dr. med. univ." for medical doctors and "Dr. med. dent." for dentists, corresponding to
MD
in the
United States
or MBBS or MBChB in the
United Kingdom
Graduates have the right to move freely within the
European Union
and to start speciality training
|
Dentistry
|
Medical informatics
|
It requires a bachelor's degree (
Bologna Process
) for the application
|
Master's degree
|
Applied medical science
|
They require a
medical degree
or similar; students of the university may start the PhD programme during the medical programme
|
Postdoc programmes
|
PhD
|
Faculty and alumni
[
edit
]
The Medical University of Vienna, through its history as the University of Vienna's Faculty of Medicine, has a long history of teaching and research. Some of the personalities having taught and learned at the institution are included in the following lists.
Faculty
[
edit
]
Nobel Prize recipients
[
edit
]
Notable faculty
[
edit
]
|
Name
|
Lived
|
Fields
|
Known for
|
|
Gerard van Swieten
|
1700?1772
|
Medicine
|
being court physician to
Empress
Maria Theresia
|
|
Anton de Haen
|
1704?1776
|
Medicine
|
being one of the first physicians to make routine use of the
thermometer
in medicine, and perceived that
temperature
was a valuable indication of illness and health
|
|
Maximilian Stoll
|
1742?1787
|
Medicine
|
|
|
Leopold Auenbrugger
|
1722?1809
|
Medicine
|
invented
percussion
as a
diagnostic
technique, because of the strength of this discovery considered one of the founders of modern medicine
|
|
Anton von Storck
|
1731?1803
|
Medicine
|
his clinical research of various
herbs
, and their associated
toxicity
and medicinal properties. His studies are considered to be the pioneering work of experimental
pharmacology
and his method can be regarded as forming a blueprint for the
clinical trials
of modern medicine
|
|
Johann Peter Frank
|
1745?1821
|
Hygiene
,
Public health
|
being credited as the first physician to describe clinical differences between
diabetes mellitus
and
diabetes insipidus
, also credited as one of the first thinkers of public
Hygiene
and of a
social medical
oriented health service
|
|
Johann Lucas Boer
|
1751?1835
|
Gynaecology
,
Obstetrics
|
established the field of obstetrics as an independent specialty
|
|
Georg Joseph Beer
|
1763?1821
|
Ophthalmology
|
introducing a flap operation for treatment of
cataracts
(Beer's operation), as well as popularizing the instrument used to perform the surgery (Beer's knife)
|
|
Carl von Rokitansky
|
1804?1878
|
physician,
pathologist
, humanist
philosopher
and liberal politician
|
Rokitansky's name is associated with the following diseases/morphologic features of disease:
|
|
Theodor Billroth
|
1829?1894
|
founding father of modern
abdominal surgery
, amateur musician
|
first
esophagectomy
(1871), first
laryngectomy
(1873), and most famously, the first successful
gastrectomy
(1881) for
gastric cancer
, first describer of the
Billroth II-operation
(still in use today)
|
|
Sigmund Freud
|
1856?1939
|
neurologist
, founder of
psychoanalysis
|
creation of the field of
psychoanalysis
|
|
Oskar Hirsch
|
1877?1965
|
otolaryngologist
|
pioneered
transphenoidal surgery
for
pituitary gland
surgery, together with
Harvey Cushing
laid the foundation for modern
transsphenoidal surgery
[19]
|
|
Viktor Frankl
|
1905?1997
|
neurologist
and
psychiatrist
, Holocaust survivor
|
founding the field
logotherapy
, which is a form of
existential analysis
, the "Third Viennese School of
Psychotherapy
"
|
Museum
[
edit
]
The
Museum of the Medical University
is mainly housed in the "Josephinum", designed and built in 1783?1785 to house the medical-surgical academy. The building includes a six-room collection of 1,192 wax anatomical and obstrectical models made in Florence by
Clemente Susini
under the supervision of
Paolo Mascagni
between 1784 and 1788.
[20]
The early-classicistic Josephinum was built in 1785 under
Joseph II of Austria
. It now houses the museum for anatomical wax models and, along with the Florentine Library, is among the largest in Europe.
[21]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Largest and longest-standing medical research institution in Austria"
. Medical University of Vienna
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"Facts & Figures"
. Medical University of Vienna
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1914 ? Robert Barany"
. Nobelprize.org
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1927 ? Julius Wagner-Jauregg"
. Nobelprize.org
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1930 ? Karl Landsteiner"
. Nobelprize.org
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
Landsteiner K (1900). "Zur Kenntnis der antifermentativen, lytischen und agglutinierenden Wirkungen des Blutserums und der Lymphe".
Zentralblatt fur Bakteriologie
.
27
: 357?62.
- ^
Noel Sheehy, Alexandra Forsythe (2013). "Sigmund Freud".
Fifty Key Thinkers in Psychology
. Routledge.
ISBN
978-1134704934
.
- ^
Eric R. Kandel
The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present
. New York: Random House 2012, pp. 45-46.
- ^
"Top 100 universities for Clinical, pre-clinical and health 2014-15"
. Times Higher Education
. Retrieved
2014-10-01
.
- ^
"Interesse am Medizinstudium steigt Insgesamt 16.443 verbindliche Anmeldungen fur das Aufnahmeverfahren an den Medizinischen Universitaten in Osterreich"
. Medical University of Vienna. 2019-04-11
. Retrieved
2020-02-12
.
- ^
"History of the Medical University of Vienna"
. Medical University of Vienna
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
Ernst, E. (1995).
"A leading medical school seriously damaged: Vienna 1938"
.
Annals of Internal Medicine
.
122
(10): 789?792.
doi
:
10.7326/0003-4819-122-10-199505150-00009
.
PMID
7717602
.
S2CID
820239
.
- ^
"History of the Medical University of Vienna"
. Medical University of Vienna
. Retrieved
2021-04-12
.
- ^
"Top 100 universities for Clinical, pre-clinical and health 2013-14"
. Times Higher Education
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"Soldier Andrew Garthwaite moves bionic arm by thoughts"
.
BBC News
. 11 December 2013
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"MedUni Wien und AKH Wien bauen internationale Top-Position fur die Versorgung mit bionischen Hi-Tech-Prothesen aus"
(PDF)
. Department of surgery, Medical University of Vienna
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"20 Years of Lung Transplantation in Austria"
. European Heart and Lung Transplant Federation. Archived from
the original
on 2014-05-02
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
"Medical University of Vienna MAGNETOM 7T Siemens International Reference Center"
. Siemens Healthcare
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
- ^
Liu, James K.; Cohen-Gadol, Aaron A.; Laws, Edward R.; Cole, Chad D.; Kan, Peter;
Couldwell, William T.
(2005-12-01).
"Harvey Cushing and Oskar Hirsch: early forefathers of modern transsphenoidal surgery"
.
Journal of Neurosurgery
.
103
(6): 1096?1104.
doi
:
10.3171/jns.2005.103.6.1096
.
ISSN
0022-3085
.
PMID
16381201
.
- ^
"Museum of the Medical University"
. WienTourismus
. Retrieved
2013-01-10
.
- ^
"Cultural heritage"
. Medical University of Vienna
. Retrieved
2014-05-02
.
External links
[
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]
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International
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National
| |
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Other
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