Organizers

With well-established strengths in health-care, engineering, business, social-sciences, science, and humanities research and education, the University offers both students and professors exciting and unique opportunities for research, education, and collaboration.

Research Excellence

McMaster’s research strength is one of the University’s most prized assets. Home to some of the best minds and laboratories in the country, with research output rivalling universities more than twice its size, McMaster has a well-deserved reputation as a crucible of discovery and innovation. The Faculty of Health sciences maintains a reputation of research excellence with $133 million in research funding being overseen by health science investigators. McMaster’s core research community is comprised of individuals from around the globe: some 1,300 full time faculty (including clinicians from the Faculty of Health Sciences), approximately 4,000 graduate students, almost 300 post-doctoral fellows and hundreds of skilled technicians and research associates.

The Faculty of Health Sciences is committed to moving forward with discoveries that will improve medical knowledge and treatments for the people of Hamilton, Canada and beyond. In partnership with hospitals, government bodies and private enterprise, McMaster continually pursues medical breakthroughs and incorporates them into the practice of health care professionals. ^{[1, 2]}

Innovation

Problem Based Learning: The University takes pride in a well-deserved reputation for pioneering world renowned learning strategies such as “Problem Based Learning”. Designed for use at McMaster though the medical school program in the 1960’s, PBL introduced an integrative curriculum that combined the study of basic sciences and clinical medicine using clinical problems in a tutorship system. ^[3] Since that time it has become a respected tool worldwide not only in medical schools but across learning disciplines to enhance the capacity of students to investigate and analyze complex problems, and to communicate clearly and effectively about them.

Evidence Based Medicine: In fewer than 20 years, evidence-based medicine (EBM) with its name and philosophy growing out of McMaster, has gone from a fledgling concept to the fundamental basis for clinical practice that is used worldwide. At the heart of EBM is a care and respect for patients. Conceptually, EBM involves three fundamental principles. First, optimal clinical decision-making requires systematic summaries of the best available evidence. Second, EBM provides guidance to decide whether evidence is more or less trustworthy. Third, evidence alone is never sufficient to make a clinical decision. Decision makers must always trade off the benefits and risks, burden, and costs associated with alternative management strategies and, in doing so, consider their patients’ values and preferences.

Clinical Practice Guidelines: The strength of McMaster researchers, who have secured their leading position in the field of health care, comprise a wealth of provided evidence and crucial contributions to the development of Evidence Summaries and Syntheses (including concepts of Meta-Analysis, Cochrane collaboration, and recently Network Meta-Analysis). The pioneering work done in those areas by McMaster faculty, together with careful application of EBM principles described above, has led McMaster to be part of almost all North American and major European Clinical Practice Guidelines.

The faculty involved in MIRCIM, both from McMaster and from other parts of the world, are all clinical practitioners who deal with day to day patient-centered challenges. This clinical experience is combined with training in various research methodologies and the application of research findings to direct patient care.

Continuing Health Sciences Education Program

McMaster University, Continuing Health Sciences Education Program is a leader in continuing professional development activities. We offer a range of services from consultations on educational design and development of programs that include conference and event planning.

We specialize in working with our own Health Sciences Faculty to implement local, regional, provincial and national events for all healthcare professionals.

All of our services can be tailored.

This goal is being fulfilled by:

• producing and distributing up-to-date and reliable information useful in everyday medical practice
• teaching the skills necessary for efficient use of medical information
• initiating and providing methodological support for creation of clinical practice guidelines and disseminating them within the medical community
• facilitating cooperation between Polish medical professionals and foreign experts in the field of evidence-based medicine

Since its very beginning, the Jagiellonian University has been an international institution. Poles, Ruthenians, Lithuanians, Hungarians, Germans, Czechs, the Swiss, the English, the Dutch, the French the Spanish, Italians, and even Tatars studied here in the old days.

Further development of the University has been inextricably bound with the turbulent and often tragic history of Poland. The institution managed to survive both the partitions of Poland by Russia, Prussia and Austria, and the two world wars, serving as a guardian of Polish culture and identity and educating successive generations of Poles, as well as members of other nations, significantly contributing to the intellectual heritage of Europe.

Some of the Jagiellonian University students and academics have been major historical figures, including world famous scholars, such as Nicolaus Copernicus or Karol Olszewski, as well as Karol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II.

Today, the Jagiellonian University comprises 15 Faculties, where 4 thousand academic staff conduct research and provide education to almost 50 thousand students, within the framework of more than 80 different fields of study. The eminent researchers and state-of-the-art infrastructure make the JU one of the leading Polish scientific institutions, collaborating with major academic centres from all over the world. The Jagiellonian University is also home to about 150 student societies, where young researchers pursue their academic interests and develop friendships with people who share their passion.

The university's prestige in both Poland and abroad is illustrated by its widely recognised research achievements. The scientists and physicians from the JU Medical College carry out pioneer studies, e.g. in cardiac surgery, urology and neurology, often leading to the development of novel treatment methods. Their findings have been published in some of the most prestigious international journals, for instance European Journal of Cardio-Thoracic Medicine, New England Journal of Medicine, and Lancet. JU archaeologists explore the secrets of ancient sites in various parts of the world, including Egypt, Cyprus, Central America, South Asia and Altay. The astronomers take part in the most important international projects in their field, including H.E.S.S. and VIPERS, whereas the results of research by JU biotechnologists have been published in such reputable specialist journals as Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, Molecular Ecology Resources or European Journal of Human Genetics. These are only some examples of remarkable successes for which the Jagiellonian University has been famous in recent years. The current position of the JU is also reflected in the growing number of patent applications and the growing number of patents granted to its academic staff members – there were 8 applications and 2 patents in 2007 and as many as 60 applications and 11 patents in 2013. Unsurprisingly, the Jagiellonian University staff have been honoured with a number of prestigious distinctions and awards, including the elite awards of the Foundation for Polish Science ("Polish Nobel Prizes") bestowed upon JU professors: Jan Wolenski, Tomasz Guzik, and Jan Potempa during the years 2010–2013.

The most unique large-scale projects run by the Jagiellonian University include the Jagiellonian Centre for Experimental Therapeutics, Malopolska Centre for Biotechnology, Molecular Biotechnology for Health, OMICRON, and Synchrotron Radiation Centre "Solaris".

Yet another advantage of the Jagiellonian University is its location in the historic city of Kraków, the former capital of Poland and a great cultural centre, visited by millions of tourists. Some of the University buildings are major historical sites themselves.

EFIM currently comprises 36 member Societies representing over 40,000 internists.

The aims of the organisation are:

- To promote internal medicine scientifically (but also ethically and professionally)
- To publish research and resolutions
- To organize meetings and congresses
- To establish communication between specialists
- To provide information to private and public organisations

The purpose of EFIM is to re-emphasize the importance of internal medicine in patient care in a world of increasing specialisation. Education, research and the promotion of internal medicine are at the heart of the EFIM mission. The European Congress of Internal Medicine, the European School of Internal Medicine and the Clinical Research Seminar have become popular events, bringing together internists from across Europe and around the world. EFIM will continue to build programmes that will raise the profile of internal medicine and encourage greater collaboration of European internists in years to come.

CPME comprises 3 faculties: School of Medical Science, Public Health School and PH.D. Studies. Almost 100 clinics and departments have been established in key and emerging fields such as allergy, cardiology, cardio-oncology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, gynecology, internal medicine, molecular biology, nephrology, oncology, orthopedy, urology, surgery and others.

CPME confers scientific degrees in medicine, medical biology biomedical engineering and veterinary. CPME currently conducts several projects co-financed by European Cohesion Fond aimed to increase the number of physicians of deficit specialties in Poland.

The clinics and departments of CPME participate in numerous research studies in cooperation with renowned universities.

The researches of CPME publish the results of their scientific work in world’s most prestigious journals such as New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet or Cardiovascular Research.

CPME offers sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures for the patients at two hospitals: Orlowski Memorial Hospital in Warsaw and Gruca Memorial Hospital in Otwock, south of Warsaw, as well as at several dozen clinical departments located in various Warsaw hospitals. The Gruca Hospital is the biggest and most important orthopaedic centre in central Poland.

The Centre of Postgraduate Medical Education is a team of well known lecturers, renowned scientists, medical doctors and other highly qualified employees who pursue a top level of education, research and medical service.

An undisputed leader both in terms of the number of publications and collaborating authors, it has attracted a great community of readers and conference participants.

The Scientific Board of Medycyna Praktyczna comprises prominent experts in various medical fields from Poland and abroad.

An independent national survey has showed that over 95% of Polish physicians rely on the publications of Medycyna Praktyczna when making diagnostic and therapeutic decisions.

What we do

1. Medical journals

• Medycyna Praktyczna – 9 medical journals, which include a Polish monthly addressed to all physicians, with the highest circulation among professional medical journals in Poland, as well as an array of other journals covering different fields of medicine, such as paediatrics, surgery or obstetrics and gynaecology
• Polish Archives of Internal Medicine – an official journal of the Polish Society of Internal Medicine, published in English, with the impact factor of 2.658.

2. Medical textbooks

including Interna Szczeklika (Szczeklik’s Internal Medicine), an evidence-based and continuously updated textbook available in print and electronic versions (currently in Polish, English, Spanish, Russian and Ukrainian).

3. Electronic publications:

• a web portal MP.PL (www.mp.pl), which contains a drug database and a number of topical, regularly updated websites (Diabetes Mellitus; Intensive Care; Medical Law; and many more)
• newsletter for physicians (sent 3 times a week)
• educational multimedia programmes for physicians
• websites with medical information tailored to patients
• an office administration software for physicians.

4. Educational events: conferences, symposia, courses and workshops.

The spiritual patron of Medycyna Praktyczna is the late Professor Andrzej Szczeklik, who passed away in 2012. One of the most prominent Polish physicians and world-renowned scientists, for 20 years he closely collaborated with Medycyna Praktyczna. Professor Szczeklik was famous for his humanistic and holistic approach to medicine. The influence of his work has been reflected in a number of our initiatives, including:

• publications on ethics: a regular series of articles in Medycyna Praktyczna as well as books discussing ethical issues in medicine, addressed to both physicians and general readers
• an annual symposium “Ethical dilemmas in medical practice”
• a national literary contest for physicians, dedicated to the memory of Professor Andrzej Szczeklik.

Medycyna Praktyczna has initiated and supported Polska Misja Medyczna (the Polish Medical Mission), an NGO which offers humanitarian aid in various parts of the world.