Contributions of doctors from Croatia to the establishment and initial development of the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia (Historical Note).

AIM

To analyse and present the milestone activities and actors, with special emphasis on the contribution of doctors from Croatia in the establishment and initial development of the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje, Macedonia, in the period 1947-60.

METHOD

A retrospective study based on archive materials and jubilee publiccactions of the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje, other relevant sources of information, and a review of the relevant literature.

RESULTS

The Faculty of Medicine in Skopje was founded on March 6, 1947 by a Decree of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia, and the first meeting of the Teachers' Council of the Faculty was held on March 17, 1947. The first generation of 153 students was enrolled in the autumn of 1947 and the first lecture was delivered on November 3, 1947. Some 20 doctors from Croatia, a half of them faculty staff, joined the initiative of the Government of Macedonia for establishing the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje in 1947. They played leading roles in creating a number of the faculty departments/chairs, establishing seven institutes and two clinics within the newly established Faculty of Medicine in Skopje in 1947 and in the first ten years of its development.

CONCLUSION

Establishing the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje in 1947 was a crucial decision of the Government of Macedonia for improving the poor health status of the population after World War II and for the overall further development of the health system and provision of health care to the population of Macedonia. The contribution of the doctors from Croatia to the establishment and initial development of the Faculty of Medicine in Skopje, Macedonia, during the period 1947-1960, was remarkable and important.