History
Faculty of Medicine of the University of Maribor (was founded with the Act on the reorganization of the University of Maribor passed by the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia on October 2, 2003.
On December 3, 2003 the Council of Higher Education of the RS approved the university study program »General Medicine« and invited applications for 80 enrolment posts for the first incoming students. The first generation of medical students enrolled in the study year 2004/2005.
The Faculty of Medicine is a member of the University of Maribor. Its seat is at Slomškov trg 15.
On September 30, 2004 at Maribor Teaching Hospital we celebrated the opening of the Institute of Anatomy, Histology and Embryology and the Institute of Physiology of the Faculty of Medicine in Maribor.
On January 27, 2006 the minister of higher education, science and technology opened the premises of the Laboratory Center of the Faculty of Medicine of University of Maribor in Magdalenski trg 5.
There numerous ongoing talks and preparations for the construction of a new Faculty of Medicine. The location for the new faculty has already been chosen. It is in the immediate proximity of Maribor Teaching Hospital (founded with the act of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia on April 17, 2007). We plan and hope that the new faculty, which will provide optimal study and working conditions, is opening its doors in 2011.
The reasons for establishment of second Faculty of Medicine
The initiative for establishing the second faculty of medicine started in the 1970s. The University Clinical Center in Maribor (UCC MB) signed and agreement in 1977 about cooperation with the Faculty of Medicine of Ljubljana, and in 1980 the first students started with clinical practice in Maribor. But not until 1990 the hospital became a teaching hospital of the Faculty of Medicine of Ljubljana, and since then a thousand students of that faculty carried out their practice in clinical subjects in the UCC.
The reasons for establishing the second medical faculty in Slovenia are found in the data of the Ministry of Health. By the year 2020 we will need 1100 doctors or 25% more than there are now. The data in the register of the Medical Chamber show that in January 2000 there were 3944 doctors and 1164 dentists. Among them 361 do not work with patients and so there are 1.9 doctors to a thousand people. In comparison with some other European countries (Switzerland, Denmark, Netherlands, Austria, Finland, Germany, etc.) we are falling behind. The age structure of doctors is also worrisome, because in the next six years 767 doctors will retire and the existing number of graduates will not be able to replace them. Knowing this it is impossible to overlook the overworked employed doctors: if we would want to reduce their work load by half we would immediately have to employ 350 specialists, but there are simply not that many.
Also very important is the information about the state of education in the Republic of Slovenia between the years 1990 and 2000 (source: Statistical Office RS). In this period the number of higher education institutions went from 6 to 17, the number of students enrolled in postgraduate studies from 33565 to 68427, bur the number of students at FM of University of Ljubljana went up minimally. The establishment of the Faculty of Medicine and realizing the study program of medicine is one of the developmental priorities of the University of Maribor. The development of medical sciences in the geographical region at the national border in the European Union also contributes to the strengthening of the national intellectual potentials.