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History of the Faculty of Medicine

When King Casimir III the Great in 1364 established the University of Kraków, there were initially three faculties. The Faculty of Medicine included two types of professors: Professor of Medicine, or lector ordinar­ius in medicines, and presumably a Professor of Astronomy, who would lecture on astrology, which for a long time remained an inextricable part of medicine. All lectures took place in the Royal Castle on Wawel Hill.
King Władysław Jagiełło, using jewels donated by his wife, Queen Jadwiga, financed the restoration of the University in 1400. Stanisław of Skalbmierz, the first Rector of the University, stressed the importance of the Faculty of Medicine already in his inauguration speech. Soon after the restoration process, famous Polish and foreign scholars began to arrive at the University. Jan Kro of Chociebuż (Johannes Kro de Kostebus) was one of its first Professors, as well as the first physician to be chosen as Rector of the University, a position he assumed in 1419. Other notable scholars include Jan of Pawia (Johannes de Saccis de Pavia), who introduced the first statute of the Faculty of Medicine in 1433, Marcin Król of Żurawica, and Piotr Gaszowiec of Loćmierz, who, in addition to medicine, displayed great interest in astronomy and astrology.
At the time, each physician who practiced in Kraków, nation­ality notwithstanding, was obliged to teach as a lecturer of medicine, or lector in medicines. Owing to this fact, already in the 15th century, the teaching staff at the Faculty of Medicine numbered nearly 50 members!
One of the greatest personalities of the 16th century was undoubtedly Maciej of Miechów (1457-1523), a historian and physician; he served as Rector of the University for eight terms and is often called the Polish Hippocrates.Other eminent scholars include Wojciech Oczko (1537-1599), author of many meticulous works on balneology and syphili-dology; Sebastian Petrycy of Pilzno (1554-1626), a clinician, philanthropist, and renowned expert on Aristotle; and Józef Strus (1510-1568), a critic of Galen and author of Sphygmicae artis libri quinque (1555), a treatise on the human pulse, he went on to lecture in Padua.
The 17th and 18th centuries saw a decline in the University, marked mainly by external factors (e.g., the 1655-1660 Swedish invasions), which led to a decrease in the number of students. Those students who decided to stay in Kraków, especially medical students, oftentimes received an incomplete education and had to supplement their studies abroad, mainly in Italy, where they obtained doctoral degrees.
The second half of the 18th century saw the condition of the University improve dramatically when, in 1773, the Commission of National Education entrusted Hugo Kołłątaj with the task of reform, carried out from 1778 to 1780. This reform initiated a new period in the history of the Faculty of Medicine: Professor Andrzej Badurski (1740-1789) worked to establish a clinic, ultimately opened in 1780, and Rafał Józef Czerwiakowski (1743-1816) began to teach surgery and, as Professor of Anatomy, was one of the first to per­form posthumous examinations in Poland. When Kraków was partitioned as part of the Austrian Empire in 1796, attempts were made at transforming the University into an Austrian institution through the introduction of foreign teachers. Not until 1809, when Kraków was partitioned as part of the Duchy of Warsaw, did the University regain its Polish identity.
The University entered into a period of prosperity when Kraków gained political independence in 1815-1846. The university owes its renown to such academics as Józef Brodowicz (1790-1885), Professor of Internal Diseases; Ludwik Bierkowski (1801-1860), Professor of Surgery; and Józef Majer (1808-1899) and Fryderyk Skobel (1806­-1878), Professors of theoretical sciences. The 19th centu­ry saw a period of further prosperity at the Faculty of Medicine and University, owing to such outstanding scholars and physicians as Józef Dietl (1804-1878); Edward Korczyński (1844-1905); Walery Jaworski (1849­-1924), in internal diseases; Jan Mikulicz Radecki (1850­1905); and Ludwik Rydygier (1850-1920) and Alfred Obaliński (1843-1898), in surgery.
The beginnings of stomatology date back to the 18th centu­ry. Already in 1779, Professor Rafał Czerwiakowski included dentistry as part of his university lectures for barberssurgeons. From 1899, the completion of medical studies also required participation in dentistry lectures. Similar to ophthalmology, orthopedics, or laryngology, dentistry was at first considered a part of surgery, long remaining within this field. Formed at Jagiellonian University in 1902, Poland's first Chair of Dentistry continued the process of establishing dentistry as an independent discipline. This Chair was headed by Professor Wincenty Łepkowski (1866-1935). During World War II, medical studies were secretly organized and run by Professor Stanisław Madziarski. In 1950, all Faculties of Medicine in Poland were separated from their universities and transformed into independent institutions, called "acad­emies of medicine".
Notable events during the functioning of the Nicolaus Copernicus Academy of Medicine (i.e., present-day Jagiellonian University Medical College) included the formation of new clinics (e.g., 3rd Clinic of Internal Diseases, 3rd Clinic of Surgery) as well as the Department of Dentistry at the Faculty of Medicine. Established in 1948, the Department of Dentistry grew to include four chairs in preventive dentistry, prosthadontics, dental surgery, and orthodontics. Each newly established department was located in old tenements or post-hospital buildings, as practically no new buildings were being built. Since 1950, the Faculty of Medicine at the Academy of Medicine educated a great number of students, filling deficits in the post-war health service and improving the health of the general population. All of its Chairs and Clinics made great strides in teaching and research, oftentimes gaining world­wide recognition.
In 1965, the Institute of Pediatrics, a technological and archi­tectural wonder at the time, was built in Prokocim District. This facility was built thanks to support from the Polish-American community and American government. Located far outside of the old town, it was built in an area which was to also include a future campus and medical center. In the 1970s and 1980s, three student dormitories and a modern Medical Library were built in its immediate vicinity.
In September 2000, an Institute of Stomatology was formed. Located on ul. Montelupich (Montelupich Street), it is equipped to 21st century standards and is the site of research and educational activities.
In the interest of ensuring the highest quality of teaching, a Conference Center was put into use in 2006. This facility is meant to accommodate student needs and also serves as a venue for conferences and conventions.


History of the Faculty of Pharmacy

The first Chairs of Pharmacy in Poland were formed as a direct result of the disbanding of the Jesuit order in 1773. At the time, this order had complete control over the entire Polish education system. The fact that the Commission of National Education was able to take over Jesuit possessions made education reform all the more possible. The end result was a three-stage secular educational system with elementary schools at the base and two universities (or Main Schools, as they were called) - the Crown School of Kraków and the Lithuanian School of Vilnius – at the top.
Andrzej Badurski was the major initiator of reform in the teaching of pharmacy. Andrzej Szaser also helped in implementing these reforms. In 1783, the Chair of Pharmacy and Medical Matter was established at the Crown School of Kraków. Its first Professor was Jan Szaster (1746-1793), a Kraków pharmacist and Doctor of Medicine.
In 1804, pharmacy training was shortened to one year in all schools of the Austrian monarchy, including the Crown School of Kraków. After the Republic of Kraków was established in 1815, a two-year pharmacy course was introduced into the Kraków School.
From 1809, the education of pharmacists took place at two faculties, namely at the Faculty of Medicine, and Philosophy. In 1809, Józef Sawiczewski was appointed Head of the Chair of Pharmacy and Medical Matter. After his death in 1825, this function was entrusted to Florian Sawiczewski, the most outstanding Pharmacy Professor of the time. In 1851, he was named Rector of Jagiellonian University.
In 1833, the Chair of Pharmacy was integrated with the Chair of General and Applied Chemistry, later a part of the Faculty of Philosophy, which substantially changed how the teaching of pharmacy was organized. In the period from 1857 to 1920, pharmacy students had their classes conducted by such renowned professors as Edward Janczewski, Józef Łazarski, Emil Czyrniański, Karol Olszewski, Zygmunt Wróblewski, Marian Smoluchowski, Rafał Czerwiakowski, Józef Rostafiński, and Władysław Szajnocha.
Amidst nationwide discussion, the teaching of pharmacy was completely reformed after Poland regained independence in 1918. Pharmaceutical departments were transformed into independent faculties of Pharmacy with four year teaching periods. The first Head of the Department of Pharmacy at Jagiellonian University was Professor Karol Dziewoński, followed by Professor Tadeusz Estreicher, who took up the post in 1926.
On the eve of World War II, the Krakow Department of Pharmacy had five separate units: Applied Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Botany, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Zoology for Pharmacy, and the Garden of Medical Plants, a part of the Jagiellonian University Botanical Garden.
In 1947, the Department of Pharmacy, operating within the Faculty of Philosophy, was transformed into a separate Faculty of Pharmacy. Professor Marek Gatty-Kostyal was appointed as its first dean.
The Kraków Faculty of Pharmacy entered a new era on January 1, 1950, when, along with the Faculty of Medicine, it was separated from Jagiellonian University and trans­formed into the Academy of Medicine.
Another milestone in the history of the Kraków Faculty of Pharmacy was the formation of the Department of Medical Analytic. This Department, with a separate 5-year teaching program, began to function during the 1977/1978 academic year.
The year in which the Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine were rejoined with Jagiellonian University was of special importance to the Faculty of Pharmacy. Among others, it was the first time the newly-built seat of the Department of Pharmacy on ul. Medyczna (Medyczna Street) was put to use. A modern didactic base and expanding set of research equipment allowed to extend its range of international academic and didactic cooperation as well as actively participate in the activities of the European Association of Faculties of Pharmacy (EAFP), of which the Faculty is a member since 2000. One of the consequences of this change was a considerable increase in the number of elec­tive courses offered.
International programs carried out at the Faculty also allow for a constant perfecting of the process of education. In 2006, by decision of the Minister of Science and Higher Education, the Faculty of Pharmacy was classified as a cate­gory - A institution.


History of the Faculty of Health Sciences

The Faculty of Health Sciences continues a rich tradition of scholarship in nursing. The School of Nursing in Kraków was founded in 1911 and by 1925 was transformed into the University School for Nurses and Hygienists. Its functioning was interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. After the War, the School continued to educate nurses at a vocational, secondary school level. Education at a graduate level was launched in 1975 with the founding of the Faculty of Nursing at the Academy of Medicine. In 1993, the Faculty was rejoined with Jagiellonian University and in 1998 was the first in Poland to introduce two-stage studies in nursing.
A resolution by the Senate of Jagiellonian University, passed on February 26, 1997, transformed the Faculty of Nursing into the Institute of Public Health. This transforma­tion was made official on October 1, 1997. Precisely one decade later it assumed its current title as the Faculty of Health Sciences.
The Faculty continues a tradition of midwifery training, initiated in Kraków in 1780 at the College of Physics, or Collegium Physicum, of the Crown School of Kraków.
In 1895, midwifery training was excluded from the school and taken over by the Imperial-Royal School of Midwives, later transformed into the National School of Midwives after Poland regained independence. In 2005, the first students were enrolled in the one-stage midwifery training program at the then Institute of Public Health. That same year, the name of the Institute of Nursing was changed to the Institute of Nursing and Midwifery.
In 1991, the School of Public Health was established. It functioned as an interfaculty unit of the Academy of Medicine and Jagiellonian University. This unit, being the first of its kind to offer public health education in Poland, was established with support from the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and in consultation with the French Ministry of Health.
The staff of the School began an intensive and wideranged campaign aimed at training personnel in modern manage­rial skills meant to satisfy the needs of Poland's changing health care system. In 1997, the name of the School was changed to the Institute of Public Health. Today the Institute offers courses in public health, an international master's degree program (EuroPubHealth), and postgraduate studies for persons performing managerial functions at healthcare institutions and carrying out other tasks in healthcare programs.