Brief history
In 1922, the Pediatric Department of the Philanthropy Hospital was established, with a staff of 20 beds, whose head physician was Dr. Doc. Mihai Cănciulescu. In 1925 he obtained the title of doctor and held courses at the clinic of Prof. Dr. D. Danielopolu; between 1928 and 1948 he edited the magazine "Mișcarea Medicală Română", a well-known publication in the country and abroad; in 1936 he was elected corresponding member of the Academy of Medicine in Bucharest, and a year later he received the Academy Prize "Dr. L. L. Rus" for his work "Heart diseases following sclerosing tuberculosis of the lung"; in 1938 he was elected President of the Doctors' Association, and in 1967 he was awarded the title of Emeritus Doctor; in 1957 he donated his library to the Documentation Centre, and later donated the house in which he lived for the establishment of an Institute of History of Medicine in Craiova. Dr. M. Cănciulescu was head of the Paediatrics Department until 1944. Over the years, other well-known paediatricians have been active, such as Dr. Silviu Paulon (1893 - 1973), Dr. Isac Rosenstein, Dr. Șerban Crețu.
On 1 July 1951, under the leadership of Dr. Ș. Cretu, a primary physician, the Unified Children's Hospital of Craiova was established as an independent unit until January 1st 1971. This unit consisted of a 80-bed ward and a specialist polyclinic.
On January 1, 1971, the new hospital was built, a modern unit with a capacity of 1600 beds, which allowed to put into operation a number of 400 beds for child care, since this date there have been in our municipality two wards of Pediatrics and a ward of Ftizio-pediatrics.
The Discipline of Pediatrics was established in 1974, in the fourth year of activity of the Faculty of Medicine in Craiova, within the Department of Internal Medicine, with Mr. Șerban Crețu as coordinator. The Department of Puericulture was established in 1975. Subsequently, they functioned within the Department of Ophthalmology-Obstetrics-Gynaecology-Paediatrics, and since 1996 the Department of Paediatrics-Paediatrics has been established.Clinical activity is carried out in the Paediatrics Clinic of Craiova Municipal Hospital and in the Paediatrics Clinics I and II of Craiova Emergency County Hospital.
The first to head the discipline of Paediatrics wast Prof. dr. Şerban Creţu, a nationally and internationally recognized personality through his published works and reference treatises. In this regard we mention the paediatric treatise "The healthy and sick child" published by Ed. Scrisul Românesc, in 3 volumes, a treatise also translated in the former Soviet Union. Also in this period, Prof. dr. Ș. Cretu organized two national scientific events: "Hepato-splenomegalic syndrome in children" (1957) and "Pleuro-pulmonary staphylococci" (1962), as well as the conference "Acute dyspneic pneumopathies in children" (1972). The round table on "Antibiotic therapy in paediatrics" was a local and national success. Prof. Crețu distinguished himself through a series of important communications in the journal "Pediatria" and other national journals. His outstanding teaching activity has enabled the training of a team of young doctors, developing in this way the Discipline of Paediatrics and Paediatrics in line with the priorities of any country, especially those in Eastern Europe.
His activity was taken over in 1990 by Prof. dr. Dan Ionescu, a passionate pediatric cardiologist, but also an impeccable trainer and organizer of teaching activity.
In 1995, Prof. dr. Dumitru Bulucea took over the leadership and coordination of the two disciplines. Since 1996, as a natural concretization of the development of the activity carried out by the teaching staff, the Discipline of Paediatrics-Puericulture was created, followed by the addition of the discipline of Neonatology. Under these auspices, thanks to the institutional policy of the U.M.F., of decentralization of professional decisions, a greater mobility has been achieved, which has allowed for fruitful collaborations in teaching and research. Since its establishment, the teaching staff of the two disciplines have published 10 textbooks and courses, 16 monographs, more than 400 articles, as well as numerous participations in national and international conferences and research contracts.
Direct contacts have been established with the American Board of Pediatrics, receiving substantial methodological help, especially in the area of postgraduate training. The annual meeting in Craiova (now in its 10th year) with paediatricians from the University of Louisville, USA, has become traditional. Through the Humana Foundation in the USA, the core of the department's documentation centre has been set up, which provides state-of-the-art audio-video material, especially lectures on topics of particular interest given by international personalities in the field (in this area, Dr. Cristian Gheonea, head of the works, has stood out).
Significant collaborations on programs and study grants have taken place and are developing with the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, USA and Karl Franzes Universitat in Gratz, Austria.
The research activity of the Chair covers a broad spectrum of paediatric pathology (from neonatology and pulmonology to paediatric haemato-oncology and HIV-AIDS), but always aiming at collaborations that foster basic research activity. Another noteworthy concern is the study of beta-thalassaemic syndromes in children, particularly from an epidemiological point of view, with diagnostic and therapeutic implications.
Ca o trăsătură comună, se încurajează în mod deosebit studiile cu parteneri din afara instituţiei. Activitatea este coordonată la nivelul conducerii catedrei, existând însă o largă independenţă şi stimulare a contribuţiilor şi iniţiativelor individuale. O componentă dinamică în acest sens este reprezentată de numărul doctoranzilor în pediatrie (inclusiv în străinătate) aflaţi sub conducerea Prof. Dr. Dumitru Bulucea, precum şi activitatea de obţinere de burse de la prestigioase instituţii de învăţământ medical din străinătate (Harvard, Gratz, New Jersey, Londra).
Since 2011, as a result of the application of the provisions of the new law on education and the adaptation of the faculty structure to them, the discipline of Pediatrics and Childbirth is part of department no. VIII, "Mother and Child", and the person in charge of the discipline is Prof. PhD Ileana Petrescu.