According to the Shanghai university rankings published last week the Medical School of Athens University ranked in 110th place worldwide, in the field “Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy.” The University of Athens Medical School was placed above several well-established Universities in Europe and the United States. Furthermore, the institution impressively managed to rise 50 places in the rankings compared to last year. Despite operating in a country to the economic collapse, the field of medicine is proudly able to stand alongside the well-known European and American universities. This is an unprecedented achievement for a public educational institution on an international level since government grants for Greek universities have decreased by about 80% over the last five years, resulting in Universities in Greece operating with a budget equivalent to 10% of the average budget used by European universities. The University of Athens Medical School has been operating for 170 years and it has been highly active not only on a national level but also worldwide. During these years its contribution has been invaluable in the areas of Education, Research, Clinical Medicine and Social Wellfare.