Specialized Study at the SMU Faculty of Medicine
Miroslav Žigrai, MD, PhD.
Vice-Dean for Postgraduate Education, SMU FoM
Contact:
telephone: +421 2 5930 165
Limbová 14, 1.posch., č.dv. 186
e-mail: miroslav.zigrai@szu.sk
Dear Colleagues,
Welcome to the web page of postgraduate education at the SMU FoM. Allow me to introduce you to the history and current system of postgraduate education at our university.
1) Our history began on May 1st, 1953 with the foundation of the Healthcare Office Training Centre for Postgraduate Education of Physicians in Trenčín, the first institution of its kind in Slovakia (and Czechoslovakia, too) that focused on postgraduate education first for physicians, later also for pharmacists and other healthcare workers. On November 30th, 1956, the Slovak Institute for Postgraduate Education of Physicians in Trenčín was created by order of the Health Commissioner, and on January 1st, 1957, the same applied to the Slovak Institute for Postgraduate Education of Physicians in Bratislava, with headquarters in Trenčín.
In 1966, specializations for postgraduate education in health care were enforced by Act No. 20/1966, and as a result the Institute changed its name to the Institute for Further Education of Physicians and Pharmacists in Bratislava.
In 1991, the Institute for Further Education of Physicians and Pharmacists and the Institute for Postgraduate Education of Secondary-Educated Health Workers were merged to form the Institute for Postgraduate Education of Health Care Workers. In October 1998, the Minister of Health changed its name to the Slovak Postgraduate Academy of Medicine (SPAM), which was inducted in the year 2000 as a member of the World Academy of Medical Academies in Tokyo.
In 2002, it became necessary for postgraduate education to adhere to EU standards. Therefore, Act No. 401/2002 Coll. from July 25th, 2002 created the Slovak Medical University (SMU) on September 1st, 2002, which became a state university of higher education under the Ministry of Health, with three Faculties:
- the Faculty of Nursing and Health Professional Studies (FNHPS)
- the Faculty of Specialized Health Care Studies (FSHS), now the FoM
- the Faculty of Public Health (FPH)
In 2003, the SMU FoM was accredited to provide undergraduate study, and 2005 saw the foundation of the IV. Faculty of Health Care of the SMU in Banská Bystrica. Professional institutions of the UEMS and Council of Europe have recognized the system of postgraduate education in Slovakia as the best in Europe.
2) Current System of Postgraduate Education
Postgraduate education is now governed by Regulation of the Government of the Slovak Republic No. 296/2010 Coll. from June 9th, 2010 on professional qualification to practice in health care, on further education of health care workers, on the system of specialization fields, and on the system of certified occupations. Its Third Part – further education under § 68 defines the Methods of Further Education
- Specialized study
- Certification practice
- Preparation for a career in health care
- Continuous education
Specialized study is defined by the specialization content of individual accredited study fields. For postgraduate study at the SMU FoM, it is required that graduates of the Faculty of Medicine are entered into a specialization field as applicable. The conditions for entry are defined by § 70 of Regulation of the Government of the Slovak Republic 290/2010 Coll. The entry conditions for certification practice are defined by § 73 of the above Regulation. Preparation for a career in health care and continuous education are described by § 74 and § 75 of Government Regulation No. 290/2010 Coll., respectively.
Appendix 3 to the Government Regulation No. 290/2010 Coll. contains a table of specialized study fields and certified occupational activities with their corresponding minimum length of specialized study. The specific length of study is determined by the accredited specialized and certified content of each study field, because the Government Regulation stipulates only the minimum duration of study. Specialization content can be found on the web page of the Ministry of Health, but chairs of academic departments will kindly provide you with detailed information. Contacts for department chairs are listed on the web page of the Slovak Medical University. Ideally, we recommend that you contact the chair of your academic department immediately after entry into a study field (this will be mandatory in the future).
For the purposes of continuous education, academic departments are to organize diverse educational activities (courses, seminars, professional conferences, and others), the participants of which may receive credits in further education and improve their proficiency.
