In a ceremony on January 11, 2011, the newly renovated transplant unit of the 1^st Clinic of Internal Medicine of the General Teaching Hospital and the Charles University 1^st Faculty of Medicine opened for the public. Costing 26 million CZK, the reconstruction allowed to increase the capacity of the unit and significantly improve both patients’ comfort and the quality of teaching.

“Students now have the opportunity to study a part of internal medicine in a state-of-the-art work environment. Undergraduate students have to know about today’s possibilities in treatment of hemato-oncological illnesses, because, as Professor Trněný mentioned, we have seen a dramatic rise in patients who suffer from them. Every two hours, a new patient is diagnosed, and therefore it is imperative that all graduates of medical schools know the latest forms of treatment. At the same time, the clinic will have a better chance to identify successful students and recruit them”, said Professor Jana Dušková, Vice-Dean for Student Affairs and Stomatology of the 1^st Faculty of Medicine.

Hematology has always been a bridge between the clinic and the laboratory and their collaboration opens new possibilities for postgraduate students. “Every year, we offer positions for postgraduate students, who can then get work experience with hematology in our lab or in the Institute of Pathophysiology. Both are located in Karlovo Náměstí and the mutual collaboration is excellent”, said the head of the 1^st Clinic of Internal Medicine of the General Teaching Hospital and the 1^st Faculty of Medicine, Professor Marek Trněný. An example of a successful collaboration between the treatment centre and the research section is Dr. Jiří Stupka’s article in the Blood magazine.

Minister of Health Dr. Leoš Heger also wished the best of luck to the new unit. “In healthcare, we are always going through dramas”, he said, noting that following the “Thank you, We’re Leaving” initiative among doctors who intend to leave the country and find jobs abroad because of what they perceive as harsh reforms, the situation at the hematology in Hradec Králové is critical: “Hopefully, I won’t have to offer the facilities in Hradec Králové to the General Teaching Hospital in Prague.” The director general of the General Teaching Hospital, Dr. Dana Jurásková, also touched upon the difficult situation in health care. “Minister Heger talked about money, and unfortunately, we will have to organize the hemato-ontological patient care differently to reflect the limited funding. However, we believe that we will be able to provide care to both our current and future patients.”

The 1^st Clinic of Internal Medicine is the largest and one of the most important hemato-oncological centre in the Czech Republic, focusing on the most frequent types of blood tumours. Among treatment methods of such tumours is the autologous transplantation of haemopoietic cells, which has been conducted at the clinic since 1993. The clinic also serves as a teaching facility for the 1^st Faculty of Medicine. The hematological laboratory provides morphological and molecular biological analyses, whereas the tissue culture laboratory cultivates stem cells for experimental therapy.

P.K.

Translation: Jaroslav Švelch