The Institute of Tropical Medicine

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The Institute for Tropical Medicine (ITM) was established over a century ago. We began by training doctors and nurses to work in the Congo and are now internationally recognized in education, medicine, science, and world health.
In 1906, in an old villa in Brussels, King Leopold II established a school devoted to studying tropical diseases (the School voor Tropenziekten). He wanted to train doctors and nurses to allow them to work in the Congo Free State. There were similar tropical institutions in England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
Each year about 700 health professionals and researchers from all over the world study at ITM. Many students come from low- or middle-income countries.
We mainly offer 'advanced teaching and training': doctoral and master degree programs, postgraduate certificate courses, and short courses as part of lifelong learning.
Our education – in human or veterinary tropical medicine and international public health – is problem-oriented and focuses on academic and professional skills. The courses use a participatory approach to learning. Exchange on professional experience between students and teaching staff is very enriching. Debate and critical reflection are fundamental.
For over a century, the Institute of Tropical Medicine offers a window to the world. Students from over 30 countries specializing in tropical infectious diseases and health care right here in Antwerp. Our scientist's research laboratories and the field collaborate with partners in Africa, Asia, and Latin-America. Our doctors and nurses offer travel advice, vaccinations, and medical care tailored to the individual patient, treating imported diseases, HIV, and STDs.
Our globalized world is changing rapidly, and the Institute adapts. As a result of increased trade, migration, tourism, and climate change, we face big health questions today. With our top-level education, research, and service delivery, we contribute to these questions' answers. We strengthen our partner organizations to take charge of science and health care in their own country, and we jointly work towards scientific progress and better health.
Scientific progress is at the core of our academic mission. We disseminate our knowledge through higher education and the provision of medical, scientific, and societal services. Through an interdisciplinary approach and a focus on our niche in tropical medicine and international health, we strive for scientific excellence and societal relevance.
ITM believes that each world citizen should enjoy a healthy life and that scientific progress is a societal development motor.
ITM aims to advance and spread the sciences that contribute to tropical medicine and public health in developing countries, inclusive of their global dimensions.
ITM conducts, within a coherent academic triad, fundamental, translational, and applied scientific research that delivers advanced education and training and provides medical, scientific, and societal expert services.
ITM strives in the fulfillment of its mission for excellence, integrity, specificity, and efficiency. It upholds human dignity and diversity, intellectual creativity and critical sense, solidarity and collaboration, and the well-being of its employees, students, patients, and other clients.

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