Vice-Dean for Science Boris Brkljačić underscored that Medical Studies in English were conceived as an important instrument of internationalising the School of Medicine, which promoted Zagreb University through Erasmus and bilateral agreements, guest lecturers and partnerships in the field of basic, clinical, translational medicine and public health.
He recalled that in 2002, the initiative committee organised a workshop ahead of launching Medical Studies in English, and experts from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and Professor of Pathology Ivan Damjanov from the University of Kansas participated in it.
A working group was established afterwards to develop a proposal of the study programme, and the University Senate accepted the study programme in 2002. The first generation of students were enrolled in the academic year 2003/2004.
In 2015, Brkljačić said, the University of Zagreb School of Medicine received the CeQuInt Certificate - the Certificate for Quality in Internationalisation, making it the first biomedical higher education institution in the European Union to receive such a certificate.
Davor Ježek, Vice-Dean for International Cooperation, said that 400 students from 35 countries, including Croatia, had graduated from Medical Studies in English so far. He also said that every year, a dozen Erasmus students spent one or two semesters on the programme.
This academic year, 89 students enrolled in the first year of the programme, including 20 students from France, thanks to the partnership between the City of Orleans and the University of Zagreb School of Medicine.