Ranked as the leading school of medicine in Croatia, University of Zagreb School of Medicine has succeeded to maintain the continuity of the high quality teaching process despite of the heritage of the socialist educational system and the harsh times of war. With the introduction of the six-year curriculum, where the "problem-solving" method is given prominence to, the school has fulfilled its requirements to meet the European standards of medical education. Teaching of the basic medical sciences is faced predominantly with the problems of obsolete equipment, whereas the quality of the education of the clinical subjects has not yet reached the desirable standards in all segments. Scientists from the University of School Zagreb of Medicine contribute to the overall scientific output of the Republic of Croatia with 10 to 20%, in addition to appearance of significant number of papers published in the international periodicals. According to the latest faculty roster, the number of full professors with teaching appointments is much too excessive. The University of Zagreb School of Medicine sees its main goal in the improvement of the quality of the teaching process. This goal is to be accomplished through introduction of the new courses (molecular biology, neuroscience, emergency medicine, ecology, medical economy etc.), improvement of the teaching methods, as well as through high standards of teaching the elective courses. Overall number of exams is also to be reduced in due time, whereas the future curriculum should provide a comprehensive medical teaching, with students actively participating in the teaching process through the first-hand experience with patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)