In 2000, the construction of the new Brno Institute of Anatomy at Kamenice 3 began, and it proceeded on schedule. Its completion is expected in June 2001. We expect that classes in the new building will commence in the autumn semester of 2001/2002.

In relation to this construction, MU Faculty of Medicine (FM) management was actively involved in working on a detailed study of MU development (with a special focus on the construction of the Bohunice university campus), which served as an indispensable basis for its financing. 

In conjunction with the Academic Senate of the MU Faculty of Medicine, faculty management also worked out the basis for the construction of new clinics, namely the MU FM Comprehensive Oncological Care Clinic, the MU FM Burn and Reconstructive Surgery Clinic, and the merging of the Paediatric Surgery and Traumatology Clinic with the Paediatric Orthopaedics Clinic into a new clinic called the Paediatric Surgery, Orthopaedics, and Traumatology Clinic. These changes will significantly contribute to the improvement (streamlining) of teaching clinical subjects.

In scientific research, team efforts predominantly concentrated on four basic themes in the fields of neuroscience, cardiovascular illnesses, oncology, and the molecular mechanisms of the most serious diseases. There was an increase in publishing activity, as well as in work on grant projects, some of which were done at the Faculty, while others were done at teaching hospitals. The projects awarded to the MU FM make up about half of the total research activity of physicians, which is also carried out in teaching hospitals as organisations to which projects from the Ministry of Health are awarded. The MU FM teachers worked on 11 Grant Agency of the CR projects and participated in another three. The Internal Grant Agency of the Czech Ministry of Health awarded 14 grants to the FM, and another 43 to the teaching hospitals. In addition, the Faculty staff worked on 10 projects from the of Higher Education Development Fund, 6 projects from the Support to Health Programme, 1 project in the at Schools of Higher Education Research Intensification Programme, and 1 project in the Czech-German programme Kontakt.

The staff of Faculty of Medicine sat on board of 156 Czech and 23 foreign medical societies. The Faculty has 26 representatives in different commissions of grant agencies. Fifty staff members took part in the organisation of international conventions in the Czech Republic, and another 15 abroad. A total of 125 Faculty staff were members of editorial boards of medical journals in the Czech Republic (102) and abroad (25). A total of 473 and 101 Faculty staff were invited to give lectures in this country and abroad, respectively, 37 went on study trips abroad and 72 chaired international conferences. Prizes and honorary awards for scientific achievement were awarded to 44 Faculty members in the CR and to 10 abroad.

In 2000, eleven professorial candidates and 7 associate professor candidates defended (one of them unsuccessfully) their theses before the Faculty of Medicine Academic Council.

In the pedagogical area, activities in support of integration into the European system of higher education were further developed and attention was also focused on the maintenance of adequate quality of teaching. In clinical disciplines, we stressed the development of clinical skills and practical procedures, with a special emphasis on primary care. Clinical Pharmacology was included amongst the compulsorily elective subjects. Introduction to Theoretical Biology, Introduction to Chemistry and Introduction to Information Technology were included amongst the electives in the first year of study. The second year's electives include Embryology and Teratology. For the following school year we planned to extend courses in Intensive Medicine.

Besides traditional medical programmes, MU FM is continuing with its Bachelor’s programme (Human Nutrition, Medical Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy, Optician-Optometry, and Nursing. In compliance with the demands for the expansion of Bachelor’s studies, the number of applicants for Nursing increased by 100%. The number of applicants for other Bachelor’s programmes cannot at present be increased due to the capacity limits. A continuation of the Bachelor’s programme is provided in the Master's Health Science programme.

In total 2301 students applied for studies at MU FM; of the 1798 that took the entrance exams, 606 were admitted.

The opening of new premises on Komenského nám. for teaching at the beginning of the 2000/2001 academic year was a very positive development. Besides the reconstructed facilities of the Institute of Pathological Physiology, the Biochemistry Institute, and the Language Department, the Faculty acquired some very well equipped seminar rooms for the teaching of other subjects, and two modern auditoria are also partially utilised. As in other faculties, the Faculty of Medicine also further expanded the electronic information system and its use for study administration. The evaluation of questionnaires in which students express their opinions on the quality of teaching at the end courses were continued, and members of the Dean’s Council discuss the results of the questionnaires at their regular meetings, and the conclusions were shared with the heads of various institutes.

The Rector’s Prize for Best Students was awarded to Eva Moravcová and Jan Brázdil  At the end of their studies, scholarships for outstanding performance at MU FM were awarded to Martin Tesák, Ivo Křikava, Pavla Klimešová, Eva Moravcová, and Jan Brázdil

In 2000, the Ph.D. study programme was significantly expanded and had 376 post-graduate students (83 in full-time study, 283 in combined studies, and 10 students interrupted their studies); 18 post-graduates successfully completed their studies, defended their thesis and obtained the Ph.D. degree; another 6 submitted their theses. Materials for the re-accreditation of 21 disciplines of the post-graduate study programme were prepared; the Post-graduate Status and Organisation Code were significantly amended in order to comply with the stipulations of Schools Higher Education Act No. 111. Changes in the content of studies common to all medical fields were completed, including staff appointments. Information pages on 22 fields in which the Faculty of Medicine provides post-graduate study were developed and placed on the Internet.

The Faculty of Medicine continues its study programme for international students in English, which is identical in content to the study programme in the Czech language for Czech students.

In the 1999 – 2000 academic year, the programme had 115 international students, 13 of which graduated from their programmes. In 2000/2001, the Faculty had 103 international students studying in programmes presented in English.

The Faculty continued to meet its obligations in science and education as stipulated in 12 agreements signed with between four institutions from the US and from various other European countries.

FM teachers went on 345 study trips (276 in Europe, 69 overseas). Sixty per cent of these involved active participation in conferences, and 8 per cent were fellowships. The other cases represented partnership cooperative projects, lecture tours, courses, training programmes, and work in thesis assessment committees.

Trips abroad were also made by undergraduate students participating in the programme of summer jobs in foreign hospitals. The Faculty gave some financial assistance to 19 students travelling abroad through the IFMSA, an international student organisation. In 2000/2001, eight students went to study abroad at medical faculties in Vienna, Berlin, Halle and Dijon through the SOCRATES programme.

A significant increase in publication activities of Faculty of Medicine teachers was recorded in 2000, which may partly be due to an improved system of registration of research and publication activities compared with previous years. The Faculty teachers published 51 monographs in Czech journals and five abroad, 730 articles in Czech journals and 202 articles in journals abroad. They also published 503 papers in conference proceedings in the Czech Republic and 192 abroad, which makes a total of 1233 and 394 papers published in the Czech Republic and abroad, respectively. Faculty teachers also published 67 textbooks in Czech and two in another language. They are authors of 113 popular science publications in this country and of two abroad. One patent application was submitted.