University Hospital Heidelberg
The university hospital of Heidelberg is one of the largest medical centers in the Federal Republic of Germany behind the Charité in Berlin and the LMU Klinikum in Munich. It is closely linked to Heidelberg University Medical School (Heidelberg University Faculty of Medicine) which was founded in 1388 and is thus the oldest within the Federal Republic of Germany. The university hospital is actually made up of 12 hospitals, most of them being situated on the New Campus (University of Heidelberg), about 10 driving minutes away from the old town. Patient care. About 700,000 patients per year  are treated at the University Hospital Heidelberg. The hospital is especially renowned for the treatment of cancer. A recent innovation in the care of cancer patient is the foundation of the National Center of Tumor Diseases (NCT) in cooperation with German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). The goal of NCT is an interdisciplinary collaboration between various clinical and basic science disciplines and the fast implementation of new and innovative therapeutic procedures. A good example for the Heidelberg's leading position in innovative cancer research and treatment is HIT (heavy ion therapy). HIT utilizes scanned beams of heavy ions, like carbon ions , and is thought to be superior in the treatment of some cancers compared to normal photon radiation. The new facility at University Hospital Heidelberg is unique in the world. The HIT radiation beam is directed by a 600 metric ton gantry which is rotated to focus the beam. Despite this enormous mass the deviation of the beam is less than ½ millimeter. In order to achieve this accuracy the whole gantry has to be maintained at a constant temperature. The total cost of the facility amounted to more than 100 Million Euros (2009). Research. Close ties exist between it, the  University Hospital and different research institutions in Heidelberg, e.g. German Cancer Research Center, Max Planck Institute for Medical Research and European Molecular Biology Laboratory. Medical education. Heidelberg University medical degree program, two years of basic science, followed by the first of the two steps of the German medical licensing examination, and four years of clinical studies, has undergone a fundamental reform in 2001: From 2001 on, all medical students at Heidelberg University, University Hospital Heidelberg (as opposed to the Heidelberg University Faculty of Medicine in Mannheim) pursue a reformed six-year-long course named "HeiCuMed" (""Heidelberger Curriculum Medicinale""). This degree  course is an adapted version of the Harvard Medical School curriculum. Undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs of Heidelberg University Medical School have played a fundamental role in Heidelberg being awarded "University of Excellence" status by the German Universities Excellence Initiative. University Hospital Clinics. Most of the University Hospital Clinics are located on the Science and Medicine Campus Im Neuenheimer Feld, while some Clinics remain across the River Neckar in the Altklinikum Bergheim. In total there are 15 University Hospital Clinics: In addition – though legally not belonging to the University Hospital Heidelberg – the following act as clinics of the University  Hospital of Heidelberg: There are several institutes belonging to the University Hospital Heidelberg that carry out further diagnostics and research: Four institutes are administered by the University Hospital Heidelberg: