A historic ceremony took place at the Subcarpathian Philharmonic Hall on September 19, 2021. The first University of Rzeszow graduates of medicine received their diplomas. 98 future doctors took the Hippocratic Oath.

The authorities of the University of Rzeszow, of the Medical College, representatives of the government and the local self-government, external stakeholders cooperating with the Medical College, as well as families of the graduates and numerous guests attended the ceremony.

Professor Artur Mazur, Vice-Rector for the Medical College, UR, emphasized that it was a historic event: “This moment is historic not only for the University but also for our city and region. We have done our best to ensure the highest level of education: general, preclinical, and clinical. We did a good job and it will pay off in the future.”

The history of Medicine as a major at the University of Rzeszow:

In October 2015, 120 students from several regions of Poland began full-time and part-time studies in the field of medicine, opened for the first time at the University of Rzeszow. During the inauguration of the 2015/2016 academic year, the Rector of the University of Rzeszow, prof. Aleksander Bobko said that opening medical studies at our University "was something that the region had anticipated for many years and this year we have succeeded. Off we go. We hope that it will be to the benefit of the university and the entire region, of the city and Podkarpacie” - he emphasized.

In November 2013 the application for the creation of a medical faculty at the University of Rzeszow was submitted to two ministries: of Health and Science and of Higher Education. In July 2014 UR received a positive decision.

Rector Bobko also said then that “It is great satisfaction and a dream coming true for many people in Podkarpacie. But it is also a difficult task, a great challenge for us. Three years ago, it seemed that achieving that success was what we had dreamed of, but today we can see that it is a small step towards the overall goal: educating excellent doctors in Rzeszow. ”

According to the then Deputy Minister of Health, Cezary Cieślukowski, who took part in the inauguration of the academic year at the University of Rzeszow, the establishment of the medical faculty in Rzeszow was a "memorable moment." "In Poland education in the field of medicine has been limited to 10-11 universities for many years," he said.

Currently, the structure of the Medical College of Rzeszow University includes 3 Institutes: the Institute of Medical Sciences, the Institute of Health Sciences and the Institute of Physical Culture Sciences, as well as the Centre for Innovative Research in Medical and Natural Sciences, the Medical Simulation Centre, the University Athletics Centre, and the Centre for Innovative Research in Sport.

The Medical College is a young but dynamically developing unit of the University of Rzeszow, with qualified staff, modern education centres, and research and development units. Our overriding goal is to provide students with the knowledge and advanced practical skills using the latest-generation equipment, as well as to engage students in Student Research Clubs and teams implementing research grants for their development. The College encourages mobility and interdisciplinary activity of its students, offering them an opportunity to participate in national and international internships and training, including the Erasmus+ program. The English Division of Medicine, opened at the University of Rzeszow in 2018, creates an opportunity for direct interaction within the international academic community.  

The constantly developing infrastructure of the Medical College of the University of Rzeszow allows for the highest level of education in medical professions. The laboratories with virtual reality and simulation scenarios (VR) are extremely popular among our students. Recently, the Medical Simulation Centre has obtained, inter alia, NeoCardioSim – an interactive simulator for students, doctors, and hospitals. It was created in cooperation with world-class specialists in neonatology and cardiology to model for students specific diseases and their treatment. Thanks to the simulation of cardiovascular disorders, NeoCardioSim can be used in cardiological and neonatal intensive care. The most common conditions are simulated in 3D. Visualizations show the heart and the changes in blood flow following a change of parameters. Scenarios and responses are simulated in real time using a 3D anatomical model of the heart. Simulations include a database of ECG, drug database, and pathology-related publications.

Nowadays, faculty members teaching the students of medicine include both employees of the University of Rzeszow and professors who, as the faculty developed, have come to Rzeszow from other centres, e.g. Warsaw, Lublin, Łódź, Zabrze, and also Stockholm.

Currently, the faculty of the Medical College consists of a total of 387 researchers and teachers, including 71 professors (R3 and R4 researchers).

Photographs - Michał Święcicki / UR