The History of - Göteborgs universitet

1939 World War II began.
1941 the actress Maria Schildknecht started a school that preceded the Academy
of Music and Drama. People started using penicillin in the same year.
From Medicine to Public Health
The Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg
was established in 2001, but its history dates
back to the 18th century.
The first medical college in Gothenburg was
founded in 1949.
Five years later it merged with Gothenburg University
College, forming the University of Gothenburg.
In 1967 the University of Gothenburg gained a
faculty of odontology. A new large building, ‘Kopparborgen’
(lit. the copper fort), was erected on – or was
rather partly built into – the Medicinareberget hill.
In 1983 the Faculty risked being closed down as
the need for dentists had dwindled. Researchers, students
and staff responded with a successful campaign
that included demonstrations and letters to members
of Parliament.
In 1998 the University College of Health Sciences
had joined the University of Gothenburg, and the
faculty of health sciences was established in 2001.
Intensive preparations in the 1990s led to the formation
of the Salgrenska Academy as a University
unit for health sciences.
It made good sense to name this new part of the
University after the merchant Niclas Sahlgren, who
bequeathed money to the construction in the 1700s.
In 2001 the Sahlgrenska Academy was inaugurated
by its own Nobel Prize winner in medicine
Arvid Carlsson. This marked the beginning of a new
era for the education and research within the health
sciences in Gothenburg. The academy is founded on
the idea of working to prevent and cure illness in
present and future generations while focusing on the
individual. Concretely this meant that the faculties
of odontology and health sciences joined forces. The
cooperation between the University and the healthcare
sector has been and is extensive. A majority of
the students at the Academy conduct parts of their
studies at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital, and
many staff members work both in the healthcare
field, often as doctors, and as researchers/teachers at
the Sahlgrenska Academy.
On the left side of the road from Linnéplatsen
to the Sahlgrenska Hospital is Gothenburg’s former
children’s hospital, today the headquarters for education
and research within the health sciences.
Sahlgrenska Hospital and the Medicinareberget
hill are divided by a busy road, yet the organisations
were connected with a glass skywalk in 2004. The
University has facilities inside the hospital, but also
at Östra Hospital and Mölndal Hospital.
Doctor, dentists, pharmacists, different types of
16 The History of the University of Gothenburg