Open Medical Institute
The Open Medical Institute (OMI) is an educational initiative for medical professionals which aims to improve healthcare on a global scale. Fellows trained by the OMI are equipped to significantly enhance healthcare delivery in their home countries. The program was founded in 1993 by the American Austrian Foundation (AAF) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) in close collaboration with physicians from Weill Cornell Medicine. Over the past decades, many leading medical institutions in the United States and Europe have joined this initiative by providing highly committed faculty who donate their time and expertise, sharing knowledge and experience with colleagues from around the world. Since 1993, the OMI has awarded more than 30,300 fellowships to physicians from 138 different countries, to whom more than 3,800 observerships in Austrian and American hospitals have been granted.
 News
From Seminar to Operating Room: Strengthening Urologic Care in Ethiopia
In the wake of the 2025 MSKCC Uro-Oncology seminar at the OMI in Salzburg, an idea took shape and quickly turned into action. OMI fellow Dr. Ibsa Daba Kumsa, Assistant Professor of Urology at the Zewditu Memorial Hospital, returned to Addis Ababa determined to build on the momentum. Together with...
From 1996 to 2026: 30 Years of ENT Excellence at the OMI
The year was 1996, and the month was August, when the first OMI Otolaryngology course ever took place. 30 years...
A Week of Vital Medical Training in Salzburg
The Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical and Acute Care at Weill Cornell Medicine provides vitally needed services...
Nurses Take the Lead: Palliative Care Shines in Armenia
The OMI Satellite Symposium Palliative Care in Nursing, held January 19-20, 2026, in Yerevan, Armenia, was a...
From Seminar to Operating Room: Strengthening Urologic Care in Ethiopia
In the wake of the 2025 MSKCC Uro-Oncology seminar at the OMI in Salzburg, an idea took shape and quickly turned into action. OMI fellow Dr. Ibsa Daba Kumsa, Assistant Professor of Urology at the Zewditu Memorial Hospital, returned to Addis Ababa determined to build...
From 1996 to 2026: 30 Years of ENT Excellence at the OMI
The year was 1996, and the month was August, when the first OMI Otolaryngology course ever took place. 30 years later, during the first week of February, the ENT seminar remains one of the OMI’s most popular programs, and the 37 fellows from 4 continents and 31...
A Week of Vital Medical Training in Salzburg
The Division of Trauma, Burns, Critical and Acute Care at Weill Cornell Medicine provides vitally needed services at New York’s number one hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/ Weill Cornell Medical Center. The division counts with a team of internationally recognized...
Nurses Take the Lead: Palliative Care Shines in Armenia
The OMI Satellite Symposium Palliative Care in Nursing, held January 19-20, 2026, in Yerevan, Armenia, was a joint initiative of the Open Medical Institute, the End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium (ELNEC), and the Yeolyan Hematology and Oncology Center. The...