Medizinische Universität Wien | |
 | |
Other name | MedUni Wien |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Established | 12 March 1365 (as part of University of Vienna) |
Parent institution | University of Vienna (until 1 January 2004) |
| Rector | Markus Müller |
Administrative staff | around 6,000 |
| Students | around 8,000 |
| Location | , 48°13′12″N16°21′05″E / 48.22000°N 16.35139°E /48.22000; 16.35139 |
| Campus | Urban |
| Nobel Laureates | 7 (University of Vienna: 15) |
| Colors | Blue andWhite |
| Nickname | MedUni Wien |
| Website | www.meduniwien.ac.at |
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| Data as of 2016[update] | |
TheMedical University of Vienna (MedUni Wien,German:Medizinische Universität Wien) is a publicuniversity located inVienna,Austria. It is the direct successor to thefaculty of medicine at theUniversity of Vienna, founded in 1365 byRudolf IV, Duke of Austria. As one of theoldest medical schools in the world, it is the oldest in the German-speaking countries, and was the second medical faculty in theHoly Roman Empire, after theCharles 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 inEurope and provides Europe's largest hospital, theVienna 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 48,000operations each year. The Vienna General Hospital has about 100,000patients treated as inpatients and 605,000 treated as outpatients each year.[2]
There have been sevenNobel Prize laureates affiliated with the medical faculty, and fifteen in total with the University of Vienna. These includeRobert Bárány,[3]Julius Wagner-Jauregg[4] andKarl Landsteiner, the discoverer of the ABOblood type system and theRhesus 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 inEurope 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: theMedical University of Graz, theMedical University of Innsbruck and the Medical Faculty at theJohannes Kepler University Linz.
As the founding member of theAlma mater Rudolfina (University of Vienna) founded in 1365, the medical faculty was already widely renowned inmedieval 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 ofMaria 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 Störck, and the discoverer of thepercussion 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 asKarl Rokitansky,Josef Skoda,Ferdinand von Hebra andIgnaz Philipp Semmelweis. Basic medical science expanded and specialization advanced. Furthermore, the firstdermatology,eye, as well asotolaryngology clinics in the world were founded in Vienna.[11]
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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 byBernhard Gotlieb) reached its zenith in the 1920s. All four Nobel Prizes, which were granted to (former) Viennese physicians during the next decadesRobert Bárány (1914),Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1927),Karl Landsteiner (1930), andOtto Loewi (1936), were the result of work undertaken at this time. The excellent tradition and research extended well into theFirst 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.
With the annexation of Austria byNational Socialist Germany on 13 March 1938 the darkest phase in Viennese medicine began. More than half of the university medical instructors, mostly those ofJewish descent, and 65% of Viennese physicians were dismissed. Many renowned researchers, physicians, and students were forced toemigrate or died inconcentration camps and under other tragic circumstances.[12]
In the aftermath ofWorld 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]
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 ofbionic reconstruction, some notable results could be achieved. ABritish soldier who lost his arm during theAfghanistan war received a bionic reconstruction at the department of surgery of theVienna 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 theUniversity 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 ofSiemens for the sevenTeslamagnetic 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]
| Type | Requirements | Degree |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine | Both have a duration of 6 years and require higher education entrance qualification, i.e.,Matura inAustria andSwitzerland,Abitur inGermany or similar qualifications from otherEU countries The language of instruction isGerman, but students are expected to be able to be fluent inEnglish, and a diploma thesis written in German or English is required | "Dr. med. univ." for medical doctors and "Dr. med. dent." for dentists, corresponding toMD in theUnited States or MBBS or MBChB in theUnited Kingdom Graduates have the right to move freely within theEuropean 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 amedical degree or similar; students of the university may start the PhD programme during the medical programme | Postdoc programmes |
| PhD |
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.
| Name | Year | Nobel Prize in | Awarded for | Field | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Róbert Bárány | 1914 | Physiology or Medicine | "his work on the physiology and pathology of thevestibular apparatus" | Otorhinolaryngology |
 | Julius Wagner-Jauregg | 1927 | Physiology or Medicine | "his discovery of the therapeutic value ofmalariainoculation in the treatment ofdementia paralytica" | Neurophysiology |
.jpg) | Hans Fischer | 1930 | Chemistry | "for his researches into the constitution of haemin and chlorophyll and especially for his synthesis ofhaemin" | Natural products chemistry,Organic chemistry |
 | Karl Landsteiner | 1930 | Physiology or Medicine | "his discovery ofhuman blood groups" | Hematology |
 | Otto Loewi | 1936 | Physiology or Medicine | "their discoveries relating to chemical transmission ofnerve impulses" – jointly awarded withSir Henry Hallett Dale | Neurophysiology |
 | Richard Kuhn | 1938 | Chemistry | "his work oncarotenoids andvitamins" | Natural products chemistry,Organic chemistry |
 | Max Perutz | 1962 | Chemistry | "their studies of the structures of globular proteins" – awarded jointly withJohn Cowdery Kendrew | Biochemistry, StructuralChemistry |
| Name | Lived | Fields | Known for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Gerard van Swieten | 1700–1772 | Medicine | being court physician toEmpressMaria Theresia |
 | Anton de Haen | 1704–1776 | Medicine | being one of the first physicians to make routine use of thethermometer in medicine, and perceived thattemperature was a valuable indication of illness and health |
 | Maximilian Stoll | 1742–1787 | Medicine | |
 | Leopold Auenbrugger | 1722–1809 | Medicine | inventedpercussion as adiagnostic technique, because of the strength of this discovery considered one of the founders of modern medicine |
 | Anton von Störck | 1731–1803 | Medicine | his clinical research of variousherbs, and their associatedtoxicity and medicinal properties. His studies are considered to be the pioneering work of experimentalpharmacology and his method can be regarded as forming a blueprint for theclinical trials of modern medicine |
| Johann Peter Frank | 1745–1821 | Hygiene,Public health | being credited as the first physician to describe clinical differences betweendiabetes mellitus anddiabetes insipidus, also credited as one of the first thinkers of publicHygiene and of asocial medical oriented health service | |
 | Johann Lucas Boër | 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 ofcataracts (Beer's operation), as well as popularizing the instrument used to perform the surgery (Beer's knife) |
 | Carl von Rokitansky | 1804–1878 | physician,pathologist, humanistphilosopher and liberal politician | Rokitansky's name is associated with the following diseases/morphologic features of disease:
|
 | Theodor Billroth | 1829–1894 | founding father of modernabdominal surgery, amateur musician | firstesophagectomy (1871), firstlaryngectomy (1873), and most famously, the first successfulgastrectomy (1881) forgastric cancer, first describer of theBillroth II-operation (still in use today) |
.jpg) | Sigmund Freud | 1856–1939 | neurologist, founder ofpsychoanalysis | creation of the field ofpsychoanalysis |
| Oskar Hirsch | 1877–1965 | otolaryngologist | pioneeredtransphenoidal surgery forpituitary gland surgery, together withHarvey Cushing laid the foundation for moderntranssphenoidal surgery[19] | |
 | Viktor Frankl | 1905–1997 | neurologist andpsychiatrist, Holocaust survivor | founding the fieldlogotherapy, which is a form ofexistential analysis, the "Third Viennese School ofPsychotherapy" |
_-_Josephinum.JPG)
TheMuseum 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 byClemente Susini under the supervision ofPaolo Mascagni between 1784 and 1788.[20]
The early-classicistic Josephinum was built in 1785 underJoseph 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]
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