Revitalization of academic medicine in Albania

The Faculty of Medicine in Tirana, the only institution providing medical training in Albania, has currently developed three separate branches of study, General Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy. Since the early 1990s, following the collapse of the communist regime, many faculty members have been trained abroad in different areas of medical sciences. Yet, little emphasis is placed on research work and teaching of evidence-based medicine in both, undergraduate and postgraduate studies. Medical students are not exposed to sources of evidence, searching techniques, and important medical databases, such as PubMed and Cochrane Library. Exposing medical students and young physicians to probabilistic thinking, the importance of communication, and levels of evidence in medical practice is what the academic medicine in Albania should strive for. To address this challenge, the Faculty of Medicine in Tirana needs to strengthen the mobility of its students and their training in Western schools. These young and well-trained faculty members will provide the critical mass of future academicians required to develop a modern medical school in Tirana.