After 20 Years
Prof. Petru Bordei MD PhD

20 years already passed since the inauguration of the Faculty of Medicine of Constanta, whose courses began in April 1990. Although some still consider our newly created school a "non-traditional" one, we believe that an existence of a fifth of a century can be considered a young to mature age for a higher education institution. Also, in many cases, they do not consider that a number of our university teachers are experienced professors, with teaching career sometimes bigger than those who make such allegations.

Our school was founded by a group of enthusiastic supporters of the idea that there should be higher medical education in Dobrudja, and I quote some examples, such as Gheorghe Dumitraşcu, Adrian Rădulescu, Adrian Manole, Călin Marinescu, Barbu Dănescu, Ion Popişteanu, and, from the medical world, doctors like Sorin Rugină or Bogdan Dumitrescu and especially our current professor Vasile Sârbu, the soul of the initiative group and which then would be Dean for more than 12 years. The document for the foundation of the faculty was signed by Professor Petre Roman, the future Prime minister at that time, by Professor Andrei Şora, the Ministry of Education and Professor Ovidiu Ianculescu, General Director for higher education. We must not forget the help we received from the Romanian medical world personalities: members of the Academy, such as Professor Laurentiu Mircea Popescu, Professor Nicolae Simionescu and Professor Maya Simionescu. The success of the debut was due to professor's Sârbu ability to attract teachers from other academic centers (Bucureşti, Craiova, Iaşi, Tîrgu Mureş), which, along with doctors from Constanţa promoted by examination, formed the first echelon of "combatants" of medical education at Constanta. As any start, it was tough, but through hard work, titanic sometimes, we succeeded in equipping with furniture and teaching materials, but mostly with spaces necessary for the learning process. An important factor for the development of newly created faculty of medicine, that began with two sections - general medicine and dentistry - was the fact that the Dean was simultaneously director of the Constanta County Health Department. In addition, we received plenty of support from local authorities at the time, and from the management of the University "Ovidius" of Constanţa. I want to note the spirit of friendship and cooperation between teachers and between teachers and students, which existed from the outset and were maintained thereafter. First class of students was driven by the highest sentiments of devotion and loyalty to the university whose students they were and the establishment that they have greatly contributed, working side by side with teachers and really having a behavior of "medical students": serious, active presence at lectures and labs, superior training, development of a real academic atmosphere. This was seen at the end, when a graduate from our faculty ranked first at national examination of residency; also, good results were obtained by other graduates of our faculty. It is impossible not to remember names like Petru Manda, Roxana Dumitrescu, Oana Cuzino from General Medicine and also Dominic Cadariu from Dentistry. All this designed the future path of the Faculty of Medicine Constanţa, in full concordance with the will of its members (staff and students) which explains the authorization of its specialties and now the accreditation by ARACIS.

Special attention was given to research and establishing national and international interuniversity relations. Thus, since April 1991, every year is organized the Scientific session of teachers and students, with guests from across the country and international participation. Same year, all teachers begin participating in international scientific events and also local organization of scientific meetings of national and international (European and even global) level; our specialists were elected within the leading structures of various national and international academic associations, appointed to teams of editorial boards of prestigious journals and are invited to participate in committees for promotion examinations in medical education or PhD commissions. Our faculty has today more than 20 doctoral supervisors who have completed more than 100 PhD dissertations. Over 85% of teachers are PhD or PhD undergraduate. To all that we add numerous research contracts and grants (including international), centers of excellence, patents and inventions. Research has been rewarded with diplomas, medals, awards, both at home and abroad. Research students working in student scientific circles, whose establishment was held in autumn 1990, led to student participation in scientific events, national and international, which often came back victorious.

From the beginning we were concerned in establishing relationships with all medical schools in Romania; the oldest provided inspiration for a better organization and support in different aspects, when needed. Today, at this anniversary, we have invited representatives from all medical education centers within the country, whom we thank for their presence.

Our international relations started with the French medical school at the end of 1990, being materialized in the spring of 1991, due to Mrs. Professor Mireille Bellet from the Faculty of Medicine of Brest, which, without exaggeration, one can consider that one of foundations of our faculty. She was helped by Professor Michel Bellet, who, together with Professor Şerban Georgescu from Bucharest, founded in Constanta the radiological department. Besides the teaching material received from Brest, Mrs. Bellet was the one who initiated the cooperation, within the European Erasmus program, with medical faculties in Brest, Cadiz, Lisbon, and subsequently widened to include other European medical faculties: Limoges, Badajos, Milan and Dijon. These programs, sometimes generous in material terms, provided also bilateral mobility of teachers and students. Currently, as Erasmus projects, the program continues with faculties of medicine in Brest, Nantes, Palermo, Lille and Marseille, together with summer practice working with Vienna and Germany, the latter form of collaboration within Mediclinic program. A proof of good relations between our faculty and faculties of medicine in Europe is the fact that our anniversary is honored by several invited teachers: Mireille Bellet (Brest), Michel Bellet (Brest), Jean Paul Francke (Lille), Vincent Delmas (Paris) , Guilhem Godlewski (Nimes), Giovanni Peri (Palermo), Patrice Le Floch-Prigent (Paris), Biagio Valentino (Palermo) Gheorghi Marinov (Varna), Alexei Darie (Chisinau), Alexander Tejas (Germany), which were proved to be true friends of our faculty. In addition to those presented, we received congratulatory letters from many other friends from Europe and outside of it.

The international relations of our faculty are strengthened by the education of foreign students, our faculty training physicians for the future in Romanian and English. Our university graduates are messengers of medical education on various meridians of the globe, making the city of Constanta to be known not only by its location on the Black Sea.

It took 18 years for the Faculty of Medicine to have its own residence, thus leaving the rented or leased premises, many of them inappropriate for the given destination and requiring expensive annual repairs. On October 1, 2008, during the opening of the academic year, the Romanian president inaugurated the new building to three sister faculties: general medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and biology; a modern building, the building with the largest area of Constanta, whose construction lasted more than 12 years. But, as a Romanian proverb said: "better late than never." This achievement is the second as importance in the memorable history of the faculty for 20 years, after its foundation in 1990. It required great efforts from the university and faculty, many trips to the ministry and Parliament of Romania and it has to be noted the support of the Ministry Cristian Adomniţei, which I think we "killed" with our presence and demands, at least weekly if not more. We found a similar support on his collaborators, including State Secretaries such as Dumitru Miron and Remus Pricopie, together with the Directors of Higher Education such as Cornel Munteanu, Sorin Gabriel Popescu, Ioan Ciucă and, not least, Mihai Păunică. We moved to a location that many universities in Romania would like to have, with almost everything necessary to provide a modern educational process. There are also some objectives to achieve, for which we have approved their construction or acquisition, but the crisis delayed (for how long?), their completion. Let's hope!

Would be very much to say about this 20 years of our faculty, but space does not allow us this and they are contained within the "Genesis of the Faculty of Medicine and Pharmacy of Constanta" published 5 years ago by Professor Vasile Sârbu and we pledge to fill it as soon as possible.

The development of the Faculty of Medicine of Constanţa was a mandatory requirement for the territory of Dobrudja and its birth led to diversification and increasing of the quality of care and also constitutes a diversified palette of Constanta, adding the white of the student's lab coats to navy blue of the sea.

With confidence in Homer's assertion that "a man who heals people make as many people" and faithful to the Hippocratic oath, we are proud to be among the teachers of the Faculty of Medicine of Constanta, contributing to the preparation of many promotions of graduates in Constanta, having as motto: "I also studied medicine in Constanta." We always respected and will respect the symbols of our faculty that we have chosen from its beginning: the logo (the universal symbol of medicine) with the founding year, the university flag, which includes two colors: white from the lab coats and blue from the sea; the Bible, the moral symbol of God and desire for protection and the last symbol, the faculty key, which seems to be the key to success.

"Vivat, crescat, floreat, rodeat" the Faculty of Medicine Constanţa!