University Medical Center Freiburg
Encyclopedia
The University Medical Center Freiburg (Universitätsklinikum Freiburg) in Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...

, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 is the teaching hospital and part of the medical research unit of the University of Freiburg
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

 and home to its Faculty of Medicine
University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine
The University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine is the medical school and biomedical research unit of the University of Freiburg...

. The medical center is one of the largest and most reputable in Europe, due to its extensive clinical capabilities and advances in research. Medical services at the University of Freiburg date back to the university's founding in 1457, as the Faculty of Medicine was one of the four founding faculties.

History

See also: History of the Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine was founded together with the University of Freiburg in 1457. In 1751, the medical faculty began charity medical activities and the first general clinic (Allgemeines Kranken-Spital) was established. In the 19th century a medical center was built, followed by an entire campus with different specialized departments. In 1887 the psychiatric clinic was constructed. In 1926 the architect Albert Lorenz began building a modern hospital complex at the present hospital location. During the bombing raid of 1944, almost all medical center facilities were destroyed. In 1952 the reconstruction of the medical center in accordance with the original plans began. Since then, the medical center has continuously expanded and added many institutes and satellite clinics.

Patient care

Today, the hospital boasts 1,600 beds and treats 55,000 in-patients each year. Around 357,000 out-patients are seen annually. The University Medical Center employs approximately 7,750 people, including over 1,150 doctors and around 2,150 nurses.

As a tertiary care center and major European hospital, virtually all specialties and subspecialties are represented at the University Medical Center Freiburg. There are numerous large centers which bundle resources and expertise in order to provide optimal treatment, among them the aforementioned Cardiovascular Diseases Center Freiburg–Bad Krozingen, the Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency, the Tumorzentrum Ludwig Heilmeyer - Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg, as well as the Liver Center Freiburg, the International Pancreas Carcinoma Center, the Neurocenter, the Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, or the Epilepsy Center.
For a complete list of departments and divisions at the medical center, see the medical center website.

Aside from the clinics and institutes, the Medical Center also houses extensive research facilities, many lecture halls, and even an own power station.

Recognition and affairs

The University Medical Center Freiburg enjoys an international reputation as a leading medical center, due to cutting edge medical treatment and extensive clinical research. Many medical breakthroughs have been achieved in Freiburg, such as the first use of the TIPS
Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt
A Transjugular Intrahepatic Portosystemic Shunt is an artificial channel within the liver that establishes communication between the inflow portal vein and the outflow hepatic vein...

 procedure on a patient worldwide, the first implantation of the artificial heart Jarvik-2000 in central Europe or the first combined heart-lung transplantation in the state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

. In 2010, the Medical Center's International Pancreatic Cancer Center was the first in Germany to perform a laparoscopic
Laparoscopic surgery
Laparoscopic surgery, also called minimally invasive surgery , bandaid surgery, or keyhole surgery, is a modern surgical technique in which operations in the abdomen are performed through small incisions as opposed to the larger incisions needed in laparotomy.Keyhole surgery makes use of images...

 pancreaticoduodenectomy. All are procedures available only in a select few hospitals. In 2004, the University Medical Center Freiburg became the first clinic in Germany to perform a blood group incompatible kidney transplantation. With over 40 such transplantations to date, the University Medical Center Freiburg is one of the most experienced centers regarding this new procedure.
The annual budget of the University Medical Center amounts to approximately EUR 560 million.
In March, 2007 the university clinic's Tumorzentrum Ludwig Heilmeyer - Comprehensive Cancer Center Freiburg (CCCF) was named an oncological center of excellence, one of the first four in Germany to be specially funded by the German Cancer Aid.

The University Medical Center Freiburg has recently set up a Center for Chronic Immunodeficiency (CCI), selected to be funded with up to 50 Mio EUR over the next 5-10 years as an Integrated Research and Treatment Center by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. In 2010, the Medical Center, in order to guarantee interdisciplinary and state of the art diagnostic and treatment methods, has also decided to found a Comprehensive Lung Center with regards to the further increasing importance of lung diseases.

Starting in 2008 the Cardiovascular Center at the University Medical Center Freiburg is being fused with the Heart-Center Bad Krozingen
Bad Krozingen
Bad Krozingen is a spa town in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 15 km southwest of Freiburg....

 to form the University-Associated Cardiovascular Diseases Center Freiburg–Bad Krozingen (Universitäres Herz- und Kreislaufzentrum Freiburg-Bad Krozingen) to form one of the largest heart centers in Germany.

The University Medical Center Freiburg is the largest hospital to be certified by the :de:Kooperation für Transparenz und Qualität im Gesundheitswesen (KTQ, Cooperation for Quality and Transparency in Healthcare), the most widespread certification procedure at German hospitals. The aim of KTQ is to make a voluntary certification procedure available to hospitals and to promote continuous improvement and internal quality management. The KTQ certification seal is valid for three years, after which a reevaluation must be performed. The University Medical Center was first certified in 2005 and recently recertified in 2008.

Education

The University Medical Center Freiburg is home to the University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine
University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine
The University of Freiburg Faculty of Medicine is the medical school and biomedical research unit of the University of Freiburg...

, a top ranking German medical school, and is the faculty's primary teaching hospital. The Medical Center also possesses an Academy for Medical Professions (Akademie für Medizinische Berufe) including among others a nursing school
Nursing school
A nursing school is a type of educational institution, or part thereof, providing education and training to become a fully qualified nurse. The nature of nursing education and nursing qualifications varies considerably across the world.-United Kingdom:...

, a physiotherapist school, and a midwifery
Midwifery
Midwifery is a health care profession in which providers offer care to childbearing women during pregnancy, labour and birth, and during the postpartum period. They also help care for the newborn and assist the mother with breastfeeding....

 school.

Office for International Medical Services & International Business Development

Office for International Medical Services & International Business Development (short: IMS) was founded in 2000 by the Board of Directors of the University Medical Center Freiburg.
IMS offers services for foreign patients and their families who come for medical treatment to the University Medical Center Freiburg. The services include providing visa assistance and cost estimates, scheduling medical appointments, arranging interpreters and travel plans, processing final billing as well as other services.
IMS also provides telemedical services
Telemedicine
Telemedicine is the use of telecommunication and information technologies in order to provide clinical health care at a distance. It helps eliminate distance barriers and can improve access to medical services that would often not be consistently available in distant rural communities...

, such as teleradiology, teleconsultations and teleteaching as well as consulting services which include assistance with purchasing medical-technical equipment for hospitals, the conception and planning of hospital and rehabilitation unit upgrade projects. It also organizes workshops, seminars and teleteaching sessions for medical and administrative personnel.
The IMS staff speaks several languages, including English and Russian.

Telemedical Services

Communication with medical specialists takes place though specially encrypted Internet channels, securing patients’ confidential medical data. This service allows patients to get a “second opinion” from a German physician without having to leave their home country.
IMS also broadly utilizes this technology for teleteaching.

See also

  • University of Freiburg
    University of Freiburg
    The University of Freiburg , sometimes referred to in English as the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg, is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.The university was founded in 1457 by the Habsburg dynasty as the...

  • Freiburg im Breisgau
  • List of hospitals in Germany

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK