znaajnu ulogu u razvoju biohemije kao primenjene hemije dali su farmaceuti , pa su ak prvih sedam dravnih hemiara u srbiji bili apotekari . je hemijsko - toksikoloke analize kao i neke medicinsko - biohemijske analize . o kolovanju medicinskih biohemiara kao zdravstvenih radnika moe se govoriti od druge polovine xx veka , kada na teritoriji srbije poinje kolovanje farmaceutskog kadra na farmaceutskom fakultetu u beogradu . u radu je prikazan razvoj medicinske biohemije kroz razvoj nastavnih planova i programa , strunog kadra i literature na farmaceutskom fakultetu u beogradu od njegovog osnivanja do danas . cilj rada je da se prikae istorijski razvoj biohemije na farmaceutskom fakultetu univerziteta u beogradu analizom tri indikatora : dodiplomskog i posle - diplomskog obrazovanja medicinskih biohemiara ; nastavne literature i strunih udruenja i strukovnih asocijacija . je primenjena metoda direktnih podataka i , gde je bilo potrebno , koriena je desktop analiza pomou koje su analizirani sekundarni podaci , uredbe , nastavni planovi i programi , dokumenta i bibliografska graa . desktop istraivanje je realizovano na osnovu sledeih izvora : arhive univerziteta u beogradu  farmaceutskog fakulteta , muzeja za istoriju farmacije univerziteta u beogradu  farmaceutskog fakulteta , drutva medicinskih biohemiara srbije kroz rezultate prikazani su nastavni planovi i programi , bolonjski proces unapreenja nastave , irenje opsega predmeta , broj studenata , struna literatura za nastavu iz biohemije i struna udruenja i strukovne asocijacije . the origins of biochemistry in serbia are related to the establishment of the state laboratory of chemistry in 1859 , which was proclaimed a part of police ministry s sanitary department by prince milo obrenovi . their task was to perform chemical - toxicological analyses , as well as medical - biochemical ones ( saliva , urine , blood analyses ) for public and legal purposes ( 1 , 2 ) . apothecaries also performed chemical analyses in pharmacy laboratories , which was regulated as part of their professional duties by the  law for pharmacies and apothecaries on keeping and selling drugs and poisons  of 1865 ( article 24 ) ( 3 ) . considering the lack of possibilities for pharmacy courses to be held in serbia in serbian language , pharmacists studied applied chemistry at european universities . adequate schooling of medical biochemists as health - care workers emerges in the second half of the twentieth century , when the education of pharmacists at the faculty of pharmacy in belgrade began . the first attempts in that direction were made through the law on university ( accepted on 27 february 1905 ) , which encompassed a pharmacy course . the establishment of an independent department of pharmacy at the school of medicine was decided by the regulation act that concerned medical schools of the universities in belgrade , zagreb and ljubljana . it was prescribed by this regulation act that medical biochemistry should be taught in the 5 and 6 semester , which was really the beginning of the development of this scientific discipline as a part of pharmaceutical science . this paper shows the development of medical biochemistry through the development of curricula , professional staff and the literature from the establishment of the faculty of pharmacy to the present day on the territory of serbia ( 4 , 5 ) . after the second world war , during which teaching was interrupted at the school of medicine , the education of pharmacists continued there and at the central laboratory . shortly after , on 19 october , 1945 , the department of pharmacy became an independent faculty of pharmacy with residence at 8 dr subotia street . medical biochemistry with biochemical analyses belonged to the chemistry chair and it was a 4 year s subject in both semesters ( the winter semester included one theory class , while the summer semester contained two theory classes and four classes of laboratory practice a week ) . due to the frequent reorganizing of curricula and the faculty s organizational structure , there have been several changes in medical biochemistry teaching in the first years of the faculty s independence . in 1947 , a separate institute for applied chemistry was formed and it included a course in toxicological chemistry , bromatology and biochemistry and clinical analyses . the progress of medical biochemical science is impossible to follow due to the frequent changes of the subject s title and also because this course was only a part of other chairs at the time , since it could not yet become an independent science among the medically oriented chemistry branches . the building of the pathophysiology institute of the school of medicine was the base for theoretical and practical classes for biochemistry courses . in 1961/62 , three departments were formed at the faculty of pharmacy : pharmaceutical - technological department , clinical biochemistry department and sanitary chemistry department , but this type of organization lasted only a few years . on the other hand , the diploma was the same for everyone with just a simple notification about the chosen department . during this period , the subject basic biochemistry was mandatory at all three departments . much later , in 1984 , in the fourth year of pharmacy studies , a clinical biochemistry course for pharmacists was introduced . two departments were formed again : graduated pharmacist and graduated pharmacist - medical biochemist ( 1987 ) . when new curricula were introduced in 2006 according to the bologna declaration , these departments became study programs of integrated academic studies that introduced new academic titles - master of pharmacy and master of pharmacy - medical biochemist ( table i ) ( 48 ) . the aim of this paper is to show the historical development of medical biochemistry subjects within pharmacy curricula through the analysis of three indicators : 
 undergraduate and postgraduate education of medical biochemists , teaching literature andprofessional and trade associations undergraduate and postgraduate education of medical biochemists , teaching literature and professional and trade associations turning points in the history of the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade ( adapted from ref 4 ) . specific objectives are focused on monitoring the development of human resources as an indicator of the development of medical biochemistry . this is achieved through the analysis of the following factors : 
 the increased number of new medical biochemistry subjects and monitoring the overall representation of medical biochemistry subjects in the curriculum;monitoring the number of students enrolled in the department of medical biochemistry atthe undergraduate or at certain types of postgraduate studies of medical biochemistry;the improvement of the conditions necessary for the development of medical biochemistry as a science . the increased number of new medical biochemistry subjects and monitoring the overall representation of medical biochemistry subjects in the curriculum ; monitoring the number of students enrolled in the department of medical biochemistry at the undergraduate or at certain types of postgraduate studies of medical biochemistry ; the improvement of the conditions necessary for the development of medical biochemistry as a science . the historical method ( method of direct data ) has mostly been used in this paper . however , desktop analysis has also been used where it was necessary , i.e. for the analysis of secondary data , regulations , curricula , documents , and bibliographic material . desktop research was conducted on the basis of the following sources : the archives of the university of belgrade - faculty of pharmacy , museum of history of pharmacy , university of belgrade - faculty of pharmacy , the society of medical biochemists of serbia and the serbian chamber of biochemists . medical biochemistry department trained personnel to work in the medical - biochemical , toxicological and sanitary laboratories . by analysing the curriculum of the pharmacy medical biochemistry department , the following results on the number of medical biochemistry subjects were obtained ( 4 , 9 ) : 
 according to the curricula of 1986 and 1991 , the first two years of study contained the same subjects for both the departments.in the third year , the pharmacy medical biochemistry department introduced several subjects : biostatistics , clinical  chemical labotratory methods , and immunochemistry , while in the fourth year laboratory hematology , clinical chemistry , control of food safety , clinical  toxicological analysis and clinical enzymology were added.general biochemistry and medical biochemistry were taught as subjects in both curricula ( 1986/87 and 1991/92 ) ( tables ii and iii).when the curriculum was changed in 1991 , the number of both theoretical and practical classes increased for the general biochemistry subject , while for the medical biochemistry subject theoretical teaching slightly decreased , as opposed to the practical teaching that increased almost twice ( figure 1 ) . according to the curricula of 1986 and 1991 , the first two years of study contained the same subjects for both the departments . in the third year , the pharmacy chemical labotratory methods , and immunochemistry , while in the fourth year laboratory hematology , clinical chemistry , control of food safety , clinical  toxicological analysis and clinical enzymology were added . general biochemistry and medical biochemistry were taught as subjects in both curricula ( 1986/87 and 1991/92 ) ( tables ii and iii ) . when the curriculum was changed in 1991 , the number of both theoretical and practical classes increased for the general biochemistry subject , while for the medical biochemistry subject theoretical teaching slightly decreased , as opposed to the practical teaching that increased almost twice ( figure 1 ) . the recent university reform in accordance with the bologna process , which also included the reform of the faculty of pharmacy , shows that medical biochemistry is a science that still has the potential to expand and to develop . the department of medical biochemestry has far more biochemistry subjects today than the departmant for the master of pharmacy . nine mandatory medical biochemistry subjects and 7 optional subjects ( table iv ) have been included in the curriculum at the department of medical biochemestry ( 2008/09 ) . mandatory subjects are : introduction to the study of medical biochemistry , general biochemistry , medical biochemistry , hematology , statistics , clinical chemistry with molecular diagnostics , laboratory methods in hematology , clinical enzymology , and laboratory statistics optional subjects include : application of information technology in academic and professional practice , risk factors for cardiovascular disease , laboratory diagnosis of endocrinopathy of the reproductive system , biochemical methods in prenatal diagnosis , laboratory diagnosis of hemostatic disorders , laboratory management and quality assurance , and evidence based labotatory medicine ( 8 , 10 , 11 ) . also , 11 mandatory medical biochemistry subjects and 8 optional subjects ( table v ) have been included in the latest curriculum for the department of medical biochemestry ( 2013/14 ) . from the very beginning , medical biochemistry subjects had a certain role in the education of pharmacists . several subjects of medical biochemistry emerged in the four - year curriculum of schooling which remained unchanged until 1991 . general biochemistry is a subject in the 5 semester at the department of pharmacy according to the five - year plan of study ( only theoretical teaching , without practical lessons ) , while medical biochemistry is included in the ninth and the tenth semester . the department of pharmacy  medical biochemistry additionally included clinical chemistry , hematology and clinical enzymology ( table vi ) . contents of these subjects vary greatly , although they are common subjects for both departments of the faculty of pharmacy . at the beginning of the medical biochemistry development at the faculty of pharmacy ( 1946 ) , percentage of theoretical and practical lessons in general biochemistry and medical biochemistry in the syllabus during the four- and five - year courses of study . curriculum for the academic year 1986/87 at the university of belgrade , faculty of pharmacy  program for medical biochemistry . subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of biochemistry ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of toxicology ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of bromatology curriculum for the academic year 1991/92 at the university of belgrade , faculty of pharmacy subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of biochemistry ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of toxicology ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of bromatology curriculum for the academic year 2008/09 at the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade curriculum for the academic year 2013/14 at the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade program for medical biochemistry . in the beginning , the number of students at the faculty of pharmacy was not limited and depended on the number of interested candidates . later , the number was limited by the decisions of the university of belgrade . table vii shows the number of students enrolled in all the departments of the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade , during the years 1945 - 2013 and the sex ratio of students enrolled for each year . at the department of medical biochemistry ( table vii ) , the number of enrolled students was fairly similar from year to year in the period 1999 - 2013 ( 12 ) . the scientific literature used to be in the form of collections of selected texts in the beginning of the faculty s development . as time went by , the range of medical biochemistry subjects increased thus increasing the amount of teaching material and the number of professional staff . consequently , a clear increase in the amount of literature has been evident in recent years ( figure 2 ) ( 4 , 5 , 13 - 15 ) . a student who has successfully completed the integrated graduate studies , the programme master of pharmacy  medical biochemistry , acquires a high education degree and the academic title of master of pharmacy  medical biochemist . after graduation , it is possible to enroll in any kind of post - graduate studies , specialist or phd studies at the faculty of pharmacy . specialist studies in medical biochemistry are part of medical specializations and they last 4 years . in order to enroll in this course , one should get the approval of the serbian ministry of health , on the basis of a request from the director of the organization in which the applicant medical biochemist works , according to the rules and regulations on the health care specialization studies . these rules have been introduced in 1960 and are still in the focus of biochemistry graduates . there are also three sub - specialisations available to clinical medical biochemists : laboratory endocrinology , clinical enzymology and clinical immunochemistry . the faculty of pharmacy organizes phd studies in medical biochemistry , which last 3 years . each year , a number of graduate students is enrolled . a student who completes his / her phd academic studies pharmacy ( doctor of pharmaceutical science ) ( figure 3 ) ( 8) . with the increasing number of enrolled the advance of every scientific field increases the number of professionals interested in it . however , certain kinds of professional societies and associations need to be formed so as to unite the interested parties and to regulate both professionally and ethically the labour acts and the behaviour of the employees in performing their duties . the following ones are important for biochemistry as a science in serbia : society of medical biochemists of serbia ( dmbs ) , the chamber of biochemists of serbia and the section of medical biochemistry within the pharmaceutical association of serbia . the first professional association was the section of medical biochemistry , pharmaceutical association of yugoslavia , which was founded in split , 15 may 1955 , which is the date later chosen for the day of the society of medical biochemists of serbia . this is a professional organization that brings together medical biochemists in order to improve and develop medical biochemistry in all the areas of health care . journal of medical biochemistry  , issued quarterly by the society , as well as its membership in the international federation of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine , european federation of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine and the balkan federation for laboratory medicine . as a professional organization recognized by the law on chambers of health workers (  official gazette of rs its main aim is to improve and regulate the conditions needed for carrying out medical - biochemical activities , to supervise the professional work and to provide licences for independent work ( 5 , 15 - 18 ) . biochemistry subjects in the five - year syllabus from 1991 till the bologna reform in 2006 at the belgrade university faculty of pharmacy . the number of students enrolled in the first year of bachelor studies for the academic period 1945 - 2013 . number of students enrolled in the first year at the medical biochemistry department ( mb ) in the period between 1999 - 2014 . by analysing the curriculum of the pharmacy medical biochemistry department , the following results on the number of medical biochemistry subjects were obtained ( 4 , 9 ) : 
 according to the curricula of 1986 and 1991 , the first two years of study contained the same subjects for both the departments.in the third year , the pharmacy medical biochemistry department introduced several subjects : biostatistics , clinical  chemical labotratory methods , and immunochemistry , while in the fourth year laboratory hematology , clinical chemistry , control of food safety , clinical  toxicological analysis and clinical enzymology were added.general biochemistry and medical biochemistry were taught as subjects in both curricula ( 1986/87 and 1991/92 ) ( tables ii and iii).when the curriculum was changed in 1991 , the number of both theoretical and practical classes increased for the general biochemistry subject , while for the medical biochemistry subject theoretical teaching slightly decreased , as opposed to the practical teaching that increased almost twice ( figure 1 ) . according to the curricula of 1986 and 1991 , the first two years of study contained the same subjects for both the departments . in the third year , the pharmacy medical biochemistry department introduced several subjects : biostatistics , clinical  chemical labotratory methods , and immunochemistry , while in the fourth year laboratory hematology , clinical chemistry , control of food safety , clinical  toxicological analysis and clinical enzymology were added . general biochemistry and medical biochemistry were taught as subjects in both curricula ( 1986/87 and 1991/92 ) ( tables ii and iii ) . when the curriculum was changed in 1991 , the number of both theoretical and practical classes increased for the general biochemistry subject , while for the medical biochemistry subject theoretical teaching slightly decreased , as opposed to the practical teaching that increased almost twice ( figure 1 ) . the recent university reform in accordance with the bologna process , which also included the reform of the faculty of pharmacy , shows that medical biochemistry is a science that still has the potential to expand and to develop . the department of medical biochemestry has far more biochemistry subjects today than the departmant for the master of pharmacy . nine mandatory medical biochemistry subjects and 7 optional subjects ( table iv ) have been included in the curriculum at the department of medical biochemestry ( 2008/09 ) . mandatory subjects are : introduction to the study of medical biochemistry , general biochemistry , medical biochemistry , hematology , statistics , clinical chemistry with molecular diagnostics , laboratory methods in hematology , clinical enzymology , and laboratory statistics optional subjects include : application of information technology in academic and professional practice , risk factors for cardiovascular disease , laboratory diagnosis of endocrinopathy of the reproductive system , biochemical methods in prenatal diagnosis , laboratory diagnosis of hemostatic disorders , laboratory management and quality assurance , and evidence based labotatory medicine ( 8 , 10 , 11 ) . also , 11 mandatory medical biochemistry subjects and 8 optional subjects ( table v ) have been included in the latest curriculum for the department of medical biochemestry ( 2013/14 ) . from the very beginning , medical biochemistry subjects had a certain role in the education of pharmacists . several subjects of medical biochemistry emerged in the four - year curriculum of schooling which remained unchanged until 1991 . general biochemistry is a subject in the 5 semester at the department of pharmacy according to the five - year plan of study ( only theoretical teaching , without practical lessons ) , while medical biochemistry is included in the ninth and the tenth semester . the department of pharmacy  medical biochemistry additionally included clinical chemistry , hematology and clinical enzymology ( table vi ) . contents of these subjects vary greatly , although they are common subjects for both departments of the faculty of pharmacy . at the beginning of the medical biochemistry development at the faculty of pharmacy ( 1946 ) , percentage of theoretical and practical lessons in general biochemistry and medical biochemistry in the syllabus during the four- and five - year courses of study . curriculum for the academic year 1986/87 at the university of belgrade , faculty of pharmacy  program for medical biochemistry . subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of biochemistry ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of toxicology ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of bromatology curriculum for the academic year 1991/92 at the university of belgrade , faculty of pharmacy  program for medical biochemistry . subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of biochemistry ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of toxicology ; subject relevant for medical biochemistry and realised by the department of bromatology curriculum for the academic year 2008/09 at the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade  program for medical biochemistry . curriculum for the academic year 2013/14 at the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade  program for medical biochemistry . in the beginning , the number of students at the faculty of pharmacy was not limited and depended on the number of interested candidates . table vii shows the number of students enrolled in all the departments of the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade , during the years 1945 - 2013 and the sex ratio of students enrolled for each year . at the department of medical biochemistry ( table vii ) , the number of enrolled students was fairly similar from year to year in the period 1999 - 2013 ( 12 ) . the scientific literature used to be in the form of collections of selected texts in the beginning of the faculty s development . there was not enough material for writing extensive and detailed books and textbooks . as time went by , the range of medical biochemistry subjects increased thus increasing the amount of teaching material and the number of professional staff . consequently , a clear increase in the amount of literature has been evident in recent years ( figure 2 ) ( 4 , 5 , 13 - 15 ) . a student who has successfully completed the integrated graduate studies , the programme master of pharmacy  medical biochemistry , acquires a high education degree and the academic title of master of pharmacy  medical biochemist . after graduation , it is possible to enroll in any kind of post - graduate studies , specialist or phd studies at the faculty of pharmacy . specialist studies in medical biochemistry are part of medical specializations and they last 4 years . in order to enroll in this course , one should get the approval of the serbian ministry of health , on the basis of a request from the director of the organization in which the applicant medical biochemist works , according to the rules and regulations on the health care specialization studies . these rules have been introduced in 1960 and are still in the focus of biochemistry graduates . there are also three sub - specialisations available to clinical medical biochemists : laboratory endocrinology , clinical enzymology and clinical immunochemistry . the faculty of pharmacy organizes phd studies in medical biochemistry , which last 3 years . each year , a number of graduate students is enrolled . a student who completes his / her phd academic studies pharmacy ( doctor of pharmaceutical science ) ( figure 3 ) ( 8) . with the increasing number of enrolled . however , certain kinds of professional societies and associations need to be formed so as to unite the interested parties and to regulate both professionally and ethically the labour acts and the behaviour of the employees in performing their duties . the following ones are important for biochemistry as a science in serbia : society of medical biochemists of serbia ( dmbs ) , the chamber of biochemists of serbia and the section of medical biochemistry within the pharmaceutical association of serbia . the first professional association was the section of medical biochemistry , pharmaceutical association of yugoslavia , which was founded in split , 15 may 1955 , which is the date later chosen for the day of the society of medical biochemists of serbia . this is a professional organization that brings together medical biochemists in order to improve and develop medical biochemistry in all the areas of health care . one of the aspects of the exchange of new knowledge is the  journal of medical biochemistry  , issued quarterly by the society , as well as its membership in the international federation of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine , european federation of clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine and the balkan federation for laboratory medicine . as a professional organization recognized by the law on chambers of health workers (  official gazette of rs  , no . its main aim is to improve and regulate the conditions needed for carrying out medical - biochemical activities , to supervise the professional work and to provide licences for independent work ( 5 , 15 - 18 ) . biochemistry subjects in the five - year syllabus from 1991 till the bologna reform in 2006 at the belgrade university faculty of pharmacy . the number of students enrolled in the first year of bachelor studies for the academic period 1945 - 2013 . number of students enrolled in the first year at the medical biochemistry department ( mb ) in the period between 1999 - 2014 . not only have the curricula been enriched with contents on clinical chemistry , but the number of practical classes in medical biochemistry subjects has also been increased . this gives significance to practical teaching in gaining laboratory skills that are to be used by medical biochemists along with the theoretical knowledge in their professional work after they get the licence . the fast advance of medical biochemistry science can be seen in the increased number of mandatory subjects , as well as in their expanded scope . there is , also , the introduction of a new kind of subjects , optional ones , 16 altogether for different subcategories of the science of medical biochemistry . the number of medical biochemistry subjects has been increased over the years , in accordance with the changes in curriculum . in the very beginning , in the school year 1945/46 , when studying the development of biochemistry through the curricula , the increase in biochemistry subjects is evident . in 1986/87 , 17.14% belonged to the biochemical orientation , or 6 from the total of 35 subjects , while in 1991/92 , the percentage was 17.65 , or 6 from the total of 34 . the introduction of a new curriculum for bachelor studies significantly increased the overall number of subjects due to their division into mandatory and optional ones . in 2008/09 , 24.32% ( 37/9 ) of biochemistry subjects were mandatory , while 38.89% ( 18/7 ) belonged to the optional group . in the past 13 years , the lowest number of students was enrolled at the beginning of 1999/00 ( 58 ) . however , as time went by , the number of interested and enrolled students increased . the largest number of students in this period was noted in 2006/07 , when 69 students enrolled . the highest number of enrolled students coincides with the beginning of the implementation of the bologna process at the faculty of pharmacy in belgrade ( 2006/07 ) . based on the results previously discussed , it can be concluded that the development of the profession of medical biochemist in serbia is noticable and closely related to pharmaceutical science and practice . this is reflected not only in the establishment of the new educational profile of medical biochemist within pharmaceutical studies and the gradual increase in the number of students interested in such studies , but also in the fact that this was accompanied by the development of professional literature and by the emergence of professional associations . at the beginning of the development of medical biochemistry as a science within the pharmaceutical profession , there existed only a few subsidiary books and authorized notes , while today several textbooks are available for each subject , which is clear evidence of the progress and advancement of this discipline .
summaryintroductionthe pharmacists played an important role in the development of biochemistry as applied chemistry in serbia . 
 what is more , the first seven state chemists in serbia were pharmacists . 
 state chemists performed the chemical - toxicological analysis as well as some medical and biochemical ones . 
 when it comes to the education of medical biochemists as health workers , the period after the beginning of the second half of the twentieth century should be taken into account because that is when the training of pharmaceutical staff of the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade , begins on the territory of serbia . 
 this paper presents the development of medical biochemistry through the development of curriculum , personnel and literature since the foundation of the faculty of pharmacy in serbia until today.objectivethe aim of this paper is to present the historical development of biochemistry at the faculty of pharmacy , university of belgrade , through analysis of three indicators : undergraduate and postgraduate education of medical biochemists , teaching literature and professional associations and trade associations.methodthe method of direct data was applied in this paper . 
 also , desktop analysis was used for analyzing of secondary data , regulations , curricula , documents and bibliographic material . 
 desktop research was conducted and based on the following sources : archives of the university of belgrade - faculty of pharmacy , museum of the history of pharmacy at the university of belgrade - faculty of pharmacy , the society of medical biochemists of serbia and the serbian chamber of biochemists.results and conclusionthe curricula , the bologna process of improving education , the expansion of the range of subjects , the number of students , professional literature for teaching biochemistry , as well as professional associations and trade associations are presented through the results .