On October 6, 2025, friends and supporters of the Open Medical Institute (OMI) gathered at the historic lecture hall of the Josephinum Medical History Museum to celebrate the Vienna School of Medicine. Dr. Christiane Druml, Director of the Josephinum Museum, opened the event with a warm welcome to its 180 guests, followed by a highly anticipated and well-received speech on the relationship between Gustav Klimt and the Vienna School of Medicine by Dr. Markus MĂĽller, Dean of the Medical University of Vienna.
The event continued with a symposium on heart diseases and a gala dinner at the festive Van Swieten hall of the Medical University of Vienna. Dr. Wolfgang Aulitzky, CEO of the OMI, set the stage with a presentation of this year’s achievements of the OMI: More than 1,000 young dedicated doctors from around the world have participated in OMI seminars in Salzburg in 2025, and 84 alumni gained knowledge and expertise during one-month observerships in Austrian hospitals, mainly at the University Hospital of Vienna.
Dr. Christian Hengstenberg, Head of the Department of Internal Medicine II at the Medical University of Vienna, presented an overview of the management of heart diseases. Dr. Philipp Bartko and Dr. Robert Schönbauer followed with updates on the minimally invasive treatments of cardiac arrhythmia and heart valve diseases. OMI co-course director Dr. Irene Marthe Lang complemented the scientific program with a captivating lecture on the prevention and therapy of heart attacks.
The evening, highlighting the Vienna School of Medicine, concluded with an entertaining live auction. Alexandre Diop, an aspiring interdisciplinary artist from Senegal, and art manager and curator Amir Shariat, had donated the painting “Scène de Chasse, Hunter Cayor, 2023”. The net profit collected at the event benefits the OMI observership program at the Medical University of Vienna as well as research projects at the Josephinum Museum.
We would like to thank all attendees for joining the wonderful evening and all sponsors and donors, in particular the main sponsor Wienerberger, for their generous support!
