Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz


The Ludwik Rydygier Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz is the medical school of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. It was established in 2004 through the merger of Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz and Nicolaus Copernicus University. It is named after Ludwik Rydygier, who in 1880 performed the world’s first successful pylorus resection for gastric cancer in Chełmno, marking a milestone in the development of abdominal surgery. It comprises three faculties:
Clinical training and research are supported by a regional hospital network, including the Antoni Jurasz University Hospital, the Biziel University Hospital, the Franciszek Łukaszczyk [Oncology Center] in Fordon, the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Pulmonology Center, and the Sanatorium in Smukała, as well as institutions in Toruń such as the Ludwik Rydygier Provincial Specialist Hospital and the Regional Children’s Hospital.
UMK, and by extension the Collegium Medicum, is a member of the Young European Research Universities Network, which also includes the University of Ulm, Paris Dauphine University, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Maastricht University, and the University of Antwerp.

Rankings

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, including its Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz, is consistently ranked among the top medical and academic institutions in Poland:
In the Uniranks 2025 ranking, NCU is placed 6th nationally.
In the Academic Ranking of World Universities, NCU is positioned 5th nationally among Polish universities.
The Collegium Medicum of NCU in Bydgoszcz achieved 1st place in the Spring 2023 edition of the National Medical Final Examination, both in the overall ranking and in the category of first-time examinees.
CM UMK students regularly achieve podium positions in the Golden Scapula competition. In 2023, they secured 1st and 2nd place in the English Division individual category and 1st place in the English Division team category.
In 2025, the Collegium Medicum team won 1st place among 14 universities in the national Medical Simulation Contest SimChallenge.

Characteristics

The Collegium Medicum is a separate branch of the "Nicolaus Copernicus University" in Toruń located in Bydgoszcz: with three faculties it provides education in eleven departments with several specialties within these departments.
Two University Hospitals of Bydgoszcz are associated with the Collegium Medicum:
Furthermore, the institution operates other centers in the city:
and also facilities in Toruń:
  • the provincial Hospital-Ludwik Rydygier;
  • the provincial Children's Hospital.
Additionally, the university conducts teaching activities at the 10th Military Hospital in Bydgoszcz.
The Collegium Medicum manages two university dormitories: one downtown, at 13 Jagiellońska street and one in the eastern district of Fordon at Bartłomieja z Bydgoszczy street.
The instruction is organized according to the three stages of the European Higher Education Area :
In 2020/2021, 4870 students study at the Collegium Medicum, including 551 doctorates and more than 300 foreigners.
The same academic year, 857 teachers were employed at the Collegium Medicum, comprising 188 professors or habilitated doctors and 5 assistant professors. The university employees in Bydgoszcz represent nearly a third of the overall UMK personnel and a third of the UMK students are working in Bydgoszcz.
In addition to a large spectrum of activities, the medical university conducts highly specialized therapeutic tasks for the entire Voivodeship.
Collegium Medicum takes part in many international research and teaching programs, organizing national and international academic conferences. Regular scientific contacts are exchanged with other centers in Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, France, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and United States.
The university also conducts operations for the local community, such as the medical science festival "Medicalia" organized periodically at the end of the year in Bydgoszcz.
In 1991, the UMK-Collegium Medicum was registered into the World Health Organization database.

History

Origins

The origin of Bydgoszcz Medical Academy, present day UMK-Collegium Medicum, dates back to 1951, when the "Institution for Training of Physicians" was established at then-Voivodeship Hospital in Bydgoszcz.

As a branch of Warsaw academic institutions

When the Institute for Continuing Education and Specialist Training of Physicians was established in Warsaw in 1953, the Institution for Training of Physicians in Bydgoszcz became a part of it, resulting in nine of clinical and diagnostic units of the new institute being located in hospitals of Bydgoszcz. During 4 years, the local branch of the Institute was chaired by prof. Jan Szymański, his successor was prof. Jan Małecki. In 1959, the Institute was transformed into a "Medical Training Center" and incorporated in the Medical University of Warsaw. At that time, the 2nd clinic of otorhinolaryngology was established in Bydgoszcz and the postgraduate training of doctors in other medical disciplines was entrusted to the heads of hospital departments. A year later, the Voivodeship National Council in Bydgoszcz adopted a resolution to establish a Medical University in Bydgoszcz, using the basis of the "Physician Improvement Study Department". This decision was reached with the consent of the representatives of the "Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń" and the minister of higher education.
UKW Chodkiewicza 4 5-2015.jpg|thumb|Buildings at 30 Chodkiewicza street, now property of the UKW]
In 1962, the institution was awarded by the same assembly the edifices located on the 30 Chodkiewicza street as well as some edifices of the Institutes of Agriculture complex, previously occupied by the Academy of Technology and Agriculture. The number of employees with a doctorate was not high enough in the 1960s to establish an undergraduate curriculum, but by 1970 five doctors and one pharmacist obtained their postdoctoral habilitation while over twenty scholars got their doctorates; these nominations helped to create what would become the nucleus of the medical teaching team. When the Warsaw parent institute became the Medical Center for Postgraduate Education in 1972, Bydgoszcz also became the seat of its new "Pharmaceutical Training Unit", tasked with postgraduate training of pharmacists from all over the country.

As a branch of the Medical Academy in Gdańsk

In 1971, a branch of the Medical Academy in Gdańsk was established in Bydgoszcz, comprising the Clinical Teaching Team conducting classes for 5th-year students. In 1974, full-time studies for 5th-year were introduced and a House of Science was erected, housing dormitory for students and apartments for academic teachers. On September 1, 1975, the branch started to teach also the fourth-year students. In 1977, a building for the Department of Pathomorphology and Forensic Medicine was commissioned.
In 1979, the Bydgoszcz branch was elevated to a second Faculty of Medicine of the parent Academy. The Ministry of Health allowed the tentative build-up of an integrated medicine course in Bydgoszcz, under the patronage and via the financial aid of the WHO. In order to achieve this goal, the provincial authorities handed over in 1980, a building to house six theoretical facilities. However, the political situation at the time thwarted these efforts. Nevertheless, the very same year marked the commissioning of the building for the future "University Hospital nr.2".

Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz

In 1984, the branch became independent as the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz, modelled after the Faculty of Medicine in Gdańsk. Its teaching team was led by:
  • prof. dr Jan Domaniewski as rector;
  • prof. dr Bogdan Romański, dr. Zygmunt Mackiewicz and dr. Stanisław Betlejewski as vice-rectors;
  • dr Anna Balcar-Boroń as dean.
The same year, by the decision of the Minister of Health, a Department of Pharmacy was also established in the city.
At that time, the Faculty of Medicine had been operating 15 clinics and 13 dispensaries. The staff consisted of 189 academic teachers including 6 professors and 12 docents. In 1985, the academy took over the management of the "Hospital No. 2", transforming it into a teaching hospital. Simultaneously, buildings for theoretical teachings of 1st- and 2nd years were completed and a further expansion of the "Academic Hospital No. 1-Dr. Antoni Jurasz" was under way.
The Faculty of Medicine was awarded the right to confer:
In 1987, the Faculty of Pharmacy including a department of Laboratory diagnostics was launched.
On January 31, 1989, the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz was named after Ludwik Rydygier. It also took over the responsibility for the "Academic Hospital No. 1-Dr. Antoni Jurasz", where new clinics and departments were opened. A surgery Department and Clinic was also established in Toruń.
In 1990, the Medical Academy purchased the building at 13 Jagiellońska street formerly occupied by the Provincial Committee of the PZPR: there were located the offices of the rector and the dean, faculties of Medicine and Pharmacy, the academic administration, lecture rooms, a canteen and an additional dormitory. In 1992, at the Ciechocinek Health Resort Hospital were opened a chair and a clinic of balneotherapy and Metabolism Diseases.
In 1994, the growing institution numbered 445 academic teachers including 48 professors, associate professors and habilitated doctors. Students were educated within two faculties comprising two departments. In 1996, the Psychiatry and Clinic division moved to a facility at Kurpiński street and an Intercollegiate Center of Medical Physics was established. Two years later, a "Nursing Department" was established as well as a new building for Rehabilitation medicine and a modern facility at the Clinical Hospital. In 1999, a doctorate studies cycle opened and a teaching center of the nursing faculty set up in Włocławek.
In 2000, the Faculty of Nursing became the "Faculty of Nursing and Health Sciences", introducing the study of public health with three specialties:
In 2001, the Faculty of Pharmacy introduced specializations of the medical analytics curriculum: biotechnology and biomedicine IT. The Polish Ministry of Health awarded the Medical University of Bydgoszcz with the highest evaluation of all medical academies in Poland. In 2002, the Clinical Hospital capacity was significantly expanded by the commissioning of a 10-level building. In 2004, the university completed the renovation of the edifice at 20 Świętojańska street, donated by the city authorities to research and teaching units.
In the 2000s, scientific research conducted by the institution focused on various domains: neoplasm, injury and their consequences for the body, cardiovascular diseases, allergic diseases, alcohol, nicotine and drug addictions, family health protection, molecular biology and genetics. In addition, many unique research works have been carried out in the field of medicine and medical biology.
In 2004, the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz had 115 scientific and didactic organizational units, including 44 at the Faculty of Medicine, 23 at the Faculty of Pharmacy, 42 at the Faculty of Health Sciences and 6 inter-department bodies. The teaching personnel comprised 551 academic teachers among which 113 independent research and teaching staff, 91 professors and 21 doctors. Since 1998, seven people have been made Honorary degree doctors. In 2004, 3720 pupils were studying at the university, more than at the Medical University of Łódź or the Medical Academies of Szczecin, Białystok and Gdańsk.

Collegium Medicum in Bydgoszcz of the Nicolaus Copernicus University

On October 14, 2003, the senate of the Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz agreed upon the merge with the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń (UMK), which was ratified by the UMK leading body on October 28. A prerequisite condition was for the medical university to keep its own naming/patron and its own seat in Bydgoszcz. The unification was officially endorsed on November 24, 2004, by a bill from the Sejm, the Senate and the signature of the President of Poland: the Medical University in Bydgoszcz was incorporated into the UKM as the "Collegium Medikum-Ludwik Rydygier" in Bydgoszcz. The previous rector of the university became the vice-rector of the Toruń University in charge of the Collegium Medicum. Three faculties belonging to the CM in Bydgoszcz are an integral part of the UKM but keep at the same time a granted autonomy, which allows for instance the possibility of an independent conduct of the personnel policy by the Vice-Rector for CM within a separate budget.
In 2006, new headquarters of the Pharmacy Faculty were unveiled at Jurasza street and in 2009 an expansion to the "University Hospital No. 1-Dr. Antoni Jurasz" started. Several buildings previously owned by the city were transformed, such as in Świętojańska and Sandomierska streets. Between 2007 and 2011, three new departments were opened, dietetics, obstetrics and emergency medicine.
The university launched the first bone marrow transplant center in northern Poland at the Department Clinic of Pediatrics, Hematology and Oncology. The Collegium Medicum cooperates to the work aimed at creating a Regional Center for Telemedicine at the "University Hospital No. 1-Dr. Antoni Jurasz".
In October 2013, the former Prussian Eastern Railway Headquarters at 63 Dworcowa Street was transferred to the Collegium Medicum of UMK to establish a Dentistry Faculty. However, due to the high estimated renovation costs, the project was postponed. As of 2025, a new Centre for Dentistry is under construction adjacent to the Jan Biziel University Hospital No. 2. The modular, four-storey building of over 4,500 m² will include lecture halls, seminar rooms, laboratories, an examination centre, and outpatient specialist clinics; it is planned to open in October 2026.
In 2020, the CM employed over 1,400 personnel and taught nearly 5,000 students in three faculties: Medicine, Pharmacy and Health Sciences.
Collegium Medicum UMK also offers English studies based on the Polish curriculum: hence the institution welcomed in 2020 around 300 students, mainly from Ireland, Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Saudi Arabia, United States, Canada, India, United Arab Emirates and Taiwan.
UMK status of "research university" was awarded as one of 10 Polish universities in the competition of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education "Initiative of Excellence - Research University" performed on October 30, 2019.
Each year Collegium Medicum UMK participates in international scientific and didactic programs. As of 2021, the university has joined the following platforms:
  • Erasmus +, allowing the teaching staff, students and administrative employees to take part in foreign studies or internships in European countries ;
  • Project "Better treatments for breathlessness in palliative and end of life care " under the "EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020";
  • Project "Strategic Innovative Educational Network for Healthy Aging".
Doctoral students syllabus, established on May 28, 2019, is also very dynamic. The Doctoral School educates doctoral students in 3 scientific disciplines: pharmaceutical sciences, medical sciences and health sciences. Doctoral students are as well the organizers of the "iMEDIC", a professional forum of researchers, where they can share their works and achievements, and expand their knowledge in the field of broadly understood medical sciences.

Organisation

The structure of the Collegium Medicum is organized by faculty and departments, as well as theoretical departments.

Faculty of Medicine

The Faculty of Medicine was founded in 1984. It is located at 13 Jagiellońska street.
The current dean is prof. dr hab. Zbigniew Włodarczyk. The faculty is constructed around the following departments or chairs:
  • Department of Allergology, Clinical Immunology and Internal Diseases
  • Department of Anatomy
  • Department of Anesthesiology and Intensive Care
  • Department of Medical Biology and Biochemistry
  • Department of Thoracic and Tumour Surgery
  • Department of Vascular Surgery and Angiology
  • Department of General, Hepatobiliary and Transplant Surgery
  • Department of General, Gastroenterological and Oncological Surgery
  • Department of General, Colorectal and Oncological Surgery
  • Department of Plastic Surgery
  • Department of Ophthalmology
  • Department of Lung Diseases, Neoplasms and Tuberculosis
  • Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology
  • Department of Dermatology and Venereology
  • Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology
  • Department of Clinical Pharmacology
  • Department of Human Physiology
  • Department of Clinical Genetics
  • Department of Haematology
  • Department of Histology and Embryology
  • Department of Cardiac Surgery
  • Department of Cardiology and Internal Diseases
  • Department of Family Medicine
  • Department of Forensic Medicine
  • Department of Nephrology, Hypertension and Internal Diseases
  • Department of Neonatology
  • Department of Neurosurgery
  • Department of Neurology
  • Department of Oncology and Brachytherapy
  • Department of Otolaryngology and Oncology
  • Department of Pathology
  • Department of Pediatrics, Allergology and Gastroenterology
  • Department of Pediatrics, Haematology and Oncology
  • Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Oncology
  • Department of Psychiatry
  • Department of Radiology and Diagnostic Imaging
  • Department of Transplantology and General Surgery
  • Department of Urology and Andrology
  • Cell and Tissue Bank
  • Laboratory for Pediatric Endoscopy and Gastrointestinal Function Testing
  • Laboratory for Medical Education
  • Laboratory for Social Medicine
  • Genetic Laboratory
  • Dean's Office of the Faculty of Medicine

    Faculty of Pharmacy

The Faculty of Pharmacy was founded in 1989. It is located at 15 Jagiellońska street.
The current dean is prof. dr hab. Stefan Kruszewski. The faculty is constructed around the following departments or chairs:
  • Department of Clinical Biochemistry
  • Department of Biopharmacy
  • Department of Biophysics
  • Department of Biostatistics and Biomedical Systems Theory
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Botany and Pharmacognosy
  • Department of Physical Chemistry
  • Department of Medicinal Chemistry
  • Department of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry
  • Department of Organic Chemistry
  • Department of Laboratory Medicine
  • Department of Pharmacodynamics and Molecular Pharmacology
  • Department of Immunology
  • Department of Cosmetology and Aesthetic Dermatology
  • Department of Microbiology
  • Department of Pathobiochemistry and Clinical Chemistry
  • Department of Pathophysiology
  • Department of Propaedeutics of Medicine and Infection Contro
  • Department of Chemical Technology of Pharmaceuticals
  • Department of Pharmaceutical Technology
  • Department of Toxicology and Bromatology
  • Animal Facilities
  • Medicinal and Cosmetic Plant Garden
  • Centre for Postgraduate Education
  • Dean's Office of the Faculty of Pharmacy

    Faculty of Health Sciences

The Faculty of Health Sciences was founded in 1997. It is located at 15 Jagiellońska street.
The current dean is prof. dr hab. Alina Borkowska. The faculty is constructed around the following departments or chairs:
  • Department of Sense Organ Research
  • Department of Oncological Surgery
  • Department of Vascular and Internal Diseases
  • Department of Diagnostic Imaging
  • Department of Health Economics
  • Department of Physiotherapy
  • Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition Disorders
  • Department of Geriatrics
  • Department of Hygiene, Epidemiology, Ergonomics and Postgraduate Education
  • Department of Cardiology and Clinical Pharmacology
  • Department of Emergency Medicine
  • Department of Social and Medical Sciences
  • Department of Neurosurgery and Neurology
  • Department of Clinical Neuropsychology
  • Department of Oncology
  • Department of Palliative Care
  • Department of Orthopaedics and Musculoskeletal Trauma Surgery
  • Department of Otolaryngology, Phoniatrics and Audiology
  • Department of Perioperative Nursing
  • Department of Preventive Nursing
  • Department of Principles of Medical Law
  • Department of Basic Clinical Skills and Postgraduate Education for Nurses and Midwives
  • Department of Perinatology, Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology
  • Department of Health Promotion
  • Department of Rehabilitation
  • Department of Rheumatology and Connective Tissue Diseases
  • Department of Urology
  • Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Dean's Office of the Faculty of Health Sciences

    Other units

Source:
  • Archives of the UMK - Branch of Bydgoszcz
  • Medical Library
  • Center for Specialist Languages in Medicine
  • Center of Education in English at Collegium Medicum UMK
  • Medical Simulation Center
  • Clinical Communication Center
  • Unit of Physical Education and Sport
  • Independent institution for Animal Experiments
  • Bioethical commission

    Buildings

Teaching facilities and administrative buildings

Hospitals and clinics

Honoris causa doctors

The former "Medical Academy in Bydgoszcz" granted the title of "doctor" honoris causa to the following people:
Since 2004, the title of "doctor" honoris causa of the UMK has been granted to the following notables:
Source:

  • Other links