The history of medicine teaching program in Croatia.

A history of medicine program was first introduced at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, in 1927 by the internist Lujo Thaller, who became the first lecturer on this subject at Zagreb. However, the development of the program did not go smoothly and medicohistorians in Croatia were engaged in a constant struggle for proper status and a permanent place for their program within the medical school curriculum. Today a 15-hour medical history course (offered in the last semester of the 6-year curriculum) is mandatory at all four Croatian medical schools. The course draws on historical, cultural, sociological, epistemological, and bioethical aspects of medicine, with the goal of broadening students' perspectives on the practice of medicine and thereby enabling them to better meet the demands they will face as practicing physicians.