V. Bonomini et al., THE AGE-OLD SPIRIT OF NEPHROLOGY FROM THE OLDEST UNIVERSITY IN THE WORLD, American journal of nephrology, 14(4-6), 1994, pp. 361-364
The University of Bologna began teaching in 1088, and the Faculty of M
edicine was granted the same rights as lawyers in 1288, largely due to
the reputation and teaching skills of Taddeo Alderotti. Among the oth
er famous names associated through the ages with the Bologna School of
Medicine are Malpighi, Valsalva and Murri. From the earliest times in
Bologna, nephrologists attempted to show an interaction of the kidney
with the outer environment (astronomy and astrology) and with other o
rgans (anatomy) and an integration of the sophisticated structures wit
hin the kidney itself (microscopy). At the turn of the 19th century, t
he biochemical frontier was reached, and a new teaching methodology em
phasizing careful consideration of all possible differential diagnoses
was developed.