University of Veterinary Medicine Budapest

Department of Veterinary Medicine was funded in 1786 as part of the University of Pest established by King Josef II, which institution already dealt actively with the education of surgery. Students for human medicine of the University compulsorily studied surgical etiology and operative surgery accompanied by the subject of veterinary medicine performed by S. Tolnay on the basis of surgical textbook edited by Prof. Wolstein from Vienna (1785). At that time veterinary surgery remained at the second level behind the human medicine. Remarkable progress in the education of veterinary surgery was achieved under V. Zlamal (1803-1886) recognizing the importance of surgery as an independent subject completing it with other related disciplines. The first teacher of surgery was F. Varga, a medical doctor, who was an assistant of Prof. Balassa, the founder of Hungarian operative surgery. In 1870 the Special Surgical and Operative Department was established and moved into present-day buildings in Rottenbiller street. B. Plósz, at the time of his heading, completely reconstructed and reorganized the department, introduced conditions of surgical asepsis and operative surgery. He was outstanding in orthopedics and abdominal surgery of the horse. Following head of the department, M. Berrár (1884-1929) was an internationally accepted expert in veterinary surgery and ophthalmology. The radiological unit was established by E.Gy. Guoth after 1929. Gy. Kómár, then A.B. Kovács took part in the foundation of hoof and abdominal surgery of the horse and cattle. L. Tamás headed the department between 1981 and 1989 contributing to the progress of equine surgery followed by J. Tóth, the major renewer, and reconstructor of the department developing the institution onto a reasonable European level both in large and small animal surgery with regard to both instrumentation and special work. After years under supervision by Prof. Tamás and Ferenc Felkai as curators, Tibor Németh has been the Assoc. Professor and Head of Surgery since 2005.