Prof Ismet Ceric, MD, PhD (1935-2017)

Professor Ismet Ceric, MD, PhD, was one of the last representatives of the recognizable Sarajevo Neuropsychiatry School in the former Yugoslav territory, which was founded by Professor Nedo Zec (1899-1971) in 1946/47 with professors Dimitrije Dimitrijevic (1900-1989), Josip Horvat (1911-1964), Salih Ridjanovic, Slobodan Loga (1936-), Dusan Kecmanovic (1940-2014) and others. He was born 1935 in Sarajevo, where he completed elementary and secondary school, followed by graduation at the Medical Faculty. After completing the mandatory clinical practice, he worked as a general practitioner in the brown coal mine in Breza from 1960 to 1963. Academician Nedo Zec, the first post-war health minister and founder of the Department of Neuropsychiatry, called doctor Ismet Ceric to complete a residency in the field of neuropsychiatry, which doctor Ceric completed in 1967. After that he completed postgraduate studies at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sarajevo in 1969. Subspecialization from Social Psychiatry he conducted in the period from 1969 to 1971 at the Faculty of Medicine in Belgrade and the Faculty of Medicine in Zagreb, where he passed a specialist examination in this field. He defended his doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of Medicine in Sarajevo in 1987. Since 1968 he was Head of Division for Acute Psychoses at the Psychiatric Clinic. From 1978 to 1992 he was the head of the Day Hospital of the Psychiatric Clinic. Professor Ismet Ceric was the founder of the Center for Prevention and Treatment of Narcotics at the Psychiatric Clinic. From 1982 to 1989, he was a Head of Psychiatric Clinic when he was relieved of his duty on his personal request due to his desire to engage in professional and scientific work. With the beginning of the aggression on Bosnia and Herzegovina, he was appointed to the post of head of the Psychiatric Clinic, because the former head was wounded, and remained at that position until 2000. He has participated in numerous professional conferences. He spent three months as a Czech Government scholar at the National Institute of Mental Health in Prague and at the Maudslay Hospital in London. He also spent three months at the Maudslay Hospital in London as a World Health Organization scholar and spent three months at the Research Institute in Saint-Petersburg. He has actively participated in numerous domestic and foreign professional conferences (congresses, symposiums, etc.) and held several lectures on postgraduate studies in Belgrade and Zagreb. In domestic and foreign journals, he has published more than 100 professional and scientific papers as author and co-author, as well as a series of articled on psychoactive substances addiction. Professor Ismet Ceric has performed very important functions in his professional and academic work: Coordinator Mental Health Advisor in front of the Federal Ministry of Health for the World Health Organization; Mental Health Examiner an expert group member in the Stability Pact for South East Europe; President of the Management Board of the Medical Chamber of SaraIN MEMORIAM