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A medical faculty will be established at the Catholic University of Lublin
The Catholic University of Lublin will begin educating future doctors in the autumn of 2023. On December 8th, the anniversary of the founding of the university, a Convention was established for the founding and development of a medical faculty at KUL. "We want to be concerned not only with man's soul but also with his body," said the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, Rev. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski.
The declaration to join the Convention was signed by representatives of governmental and local government administration, Prof. Wojciech Załuski - the Rector of the Medical University of Lublin, as well as hospital Chief Executives. The aim of the Convention is to support the development of a medical faculty at the KUL. A letter of intent for the establishment and development of a medical faculty was also signed. Its signatories expressed their will to provide practical and organisational support, for example through working towards creating a proper clinical base and through organising student internships. Support, including that of the financial nature, for the founding of the new faculty was expressed by Piotr Bomber, the Deputy Health Minister. "The increase in the number of available places in medical faculties over the past several years is an important step in ensuring the health of Poles" said the Deputy Minister. The will to cooperate was also expressed by Prof. Wojciech Załuski, the Rector of the Medical University of Lublin.
"The establishment of a medical faculty is the completion of the history of the university," stressed Rev. Prof. Mirosław Kalinowski. It is no coincidence that the letter of intent was signed on December 8th, another anniversary of the university's inauguration. It is the realisation, after over 100 years, of the intentions of the university's founder, Rev. Idzi Radziszewski, who wanted KUL to provide education in the widest possible scope. As emphasized by Archbishop Stanisław Budzik, the Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University of Lublin, the establishment of a Catholic university in the autumn of 1918 was a bold decision that bore beautiful fruit in the course of time.
Rev. Radziszewski's idea was taken up several years following his death, but advanced arrangements for the establishment of a medical faculty were interrupted by the Second World War. Rev. Prof. Kalinowski stated that the work on the establishment of a medical faculty at KUL started again a few years ago; in the initial stage, education in nursing and midwifery was launched.
As stressed by the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin, the establishment of a medical faculty is also a reference to the classic university model. "The classical university consisted of four fields of study: theology, philosophy, law, and medicine" recalls Rev. Prof. Kalinowski. A medical faculty naturally fits in with the vision of a Catholic university. The Church's concern extends to the whole person, not only to the sphere of his or her soul; for example, through extensive charitable activities or the running of medical units. Educating future doctors is offered by many Catholic universities; the Gemelli Polyclinic is the clinical hospital of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan, which also provides medical care to popes.
It is this holistic view of the human being as a spiritual and corporal unity that underlies the establishment of medical studies at the Catholic University of Lublin. "We want future graduates of our medical faculty to be able to look at people holistically, taking into account both their physical and spiritual nature, as well as the dignity of the human being," explains Prof. Dr. Hab. Michał Wyrostkiewicz spokesperson of KUL. Future doctors are to be educated in terms of personalising medical activities, i.e. the application of modern diagnostics and therapy for a particular patient.
This is simultaneously a response to social needs. According to the estimates of the Supreme Medical Chamber, there is a shortage of tens of thousands of doctors in Poland. "I experience these shortages every day," confirms Prof. Elżbieta Starosławska, director of the St. John of Dukla Oncology Centre of Lublin, one of the hospitals that will cooperate with the Catholic University of Lublin in conducting medical studies.
The medical faculty will be run at the Poczekajka campus, based on the existing infrastructure - including modern laboratories - which is gradually being supplemented. Educating is due to commence in the autumn of 2023. Initially, 60 students will be able to study medicine at KUL, but the number is expected to increase each year. There are also plans to establish medical studies in English.
