The department of internal medicine was originally founded in 1993 and consisted of the following divisions: gastroenterology, cardiology, nephrology, pneumology, endocrinology, haematology, general internal medicine and geriatrics, rheumatology and intensive care. In 1998 the medical oncology was added to the department, in 1999 the emergency department and in 2002 the department of internal medicine was completed with the neuropsychology division.

The department is supervised by the Head of the Department: prof. dr. Jean-Marc Kaufman.

Mission of the Department of Internal Medicine

The department conducts high-standard qualitative and quantitative research with national and international reputation and publications in top international journals and provides quality education services within and outside the university hospital.

The research conducted within the department embraces the three faculty recognized research areas being: immunology / inflammation, oncology and genetics. These research areas are developed translationally in which the organ function and the specific disease is highlighted: research is conducted from lab to clinic, ranging from basic experimental research to clinical and applied epidemiological research.

Basic research is aided by appropriate (and often self-designed) animal models and cellular models. The insights gained in physiopathological mechanisms are linked back to the clinic as "proof of concept". Conversely, results from clinical studies are fed back to basic research for better understanding of the mechanisms achieving desired therapeutic outcomes.

Education within the department ensures training of internal medicine and its sub-disciplines as well as education in neurology. Besides graduate education in medicine and other faculty training, the Master in internal medicine and related specialties (cardiology, endocrinology and metabolic disorders, geriatrics, hematology, intensive care, respiratory medicine, stomach, intestine and liver diseases, oncology, renal disease, rheumatology, infectious diseases, emergency medicine) and neurology are taught.

In terms of community services, highly qualified top-level clinical and patient care is offered, which has led to the development of multidisciplinary centers of reference and other partnerships. The relevant fields are the same as mentioned above under Education.