Prof. Dr. Selami Sylejmani

Prof. Dr. Selami Sylejmani was born on January 9, 1954, in Bresanë, Municipality of Dragash. He completed primary school in his hometown and graduated from the Medical High School in 1972 in Prizren. He enrolled in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zagreb, where he completed his first year, but due to financial reasons, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, graduating on July 1, 1980. After the death of his father in a car accident, he became responsible for his mother and siblings, which required him, as a final-year student, to work as a teacher at the “Jeta e Re” High School in Suhareka from November 6, 1979, to August 31, 1980, to support his family. He began practicing medicine in Suhareka on September 1, 1980, later continuing at the Health Center in Dragash until April 13, 1981, when, due to political reasons and his support of the March 1981 student demonstrations for the Republic of Kosovo, he was swiftly imprisoned. After being released from prison seven days later, he was sent to serve in the Yugoslav National Army. Upon returning from military service, he was dismissed from his job for “moral-political unfitness,” and for a period, he had to perform manual labor on the streets to support his family.

With the assistance of Dr. Muharrem Avdiu, a pediatrician and director of the Health Center in Podujevë, with whom he had served in the military, he was employed in Orllan, Podujevë, where he worked from August 31, 1982, to January 10, 1983. In January 1983, he began working at the Medical Center in Prizren.

He completed postgraduate studies in “Ultrasound in Clinical Medicine” in July 1987 in Zagreb, where he was also granted a master’s thesis topic titled “Ultrasonic Presentation of Early Pathological Pregnancies, Particularly in Blighted Ovum.” On February 29, 1988, he completed his specialization in gynecology and obstetrics at Petrova Clinic in Zagreb, Croatia.

On August 23, 1989, he established the Ultrasound Diagnostic Unit at Prizren Hospital. Following the oppression of the period’s regime, on October 14, 1991, he was dismissed from his position by the imposed director Dr. B. Zivgarević. To survive, he and Doc. Dr. Xhevat Hasan, who had earlier been removed from the Physiology Institute at the Faculty of Medicine in Prishtina, founded the GINEKOS Polyclinic. During that time, GINEKOS became known as a second Mother Teresa. Between January 1, 1992, and June 28, 1998, GINEKOS Polyclinic conducted 21,314 free consultations, including 4,975 at half-price, 5,366 free consultations for social reasons, 2,776 free consultations for educational workers, 2,977 free for medical workers, and 2,852 with Mother Teresa cards. The practical training for students from Luciano Motroni Medical High School in Prizren and the Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina, was conducted at GINEKOS Polyclinic, as well as part of the internship for gynecology and obstetrics residents.

He worked for free as a teacher of gynecology and obstetrics at Luciano Motroni Medical High School in Prizren for ten years, from 1991 to 1999.

He also served at the Mother Teresa Clinic in Arbana, Prizren, from 1996 until it closed, and at the NËNA Maternity in Prishtina until it closed. For this, on the 20th anniversary of its founding on December 9, 2016, he was honored by the Mother Teresa Humanitarian Association with a citation for his exceptional professional and human commitment in the dignified treatment of women and sisters at the maternity center, which rekindled hope, trust, and morale among the people.

On April 28, 1995, he defended his master’s thesis titled “Ultrasonic Presentation of Early Pathological Pregnancies, Particularly in Blighted Ovum” at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina.

In April 1999, during the siege of Tusus neighborhood in Prizren, his house was raided, his brother Hyrmeti was arrested, and after a few days, his entire family moved to Albania. Meanwhile, on May 26, 1999, in the Tusus neighborhood massacre in Prizren, his brother was executed along with relatives, his house was burned, and the GINEKOS clinic was demolished.

After returning from Albania in June 1999, he resumed work at Prizren Hospital, where he worked until October 15, 1999, when his request for a one-year unpaid leave to complete his dissertation was approved. On May 2, 2000, he defended his dissertation titled “Prediction of Ovulation and Assessment of Ovarian Function in Women via Ultrasound” at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana. Upon completing his unpaid leave, he returned to the Prizren Regional Hospital, but the management at the time showed no willingness to allow him to continue working there, citing that employing him would require letting go of three hospital janitors. He continued his work at the GINEKOS private clinic, officially registering it with state institutions on July 24, 2000.

On December 22, 2001, in Prizren, he, along with a group of enthusiastic doctors, founded the Kosovo Association for the Application of Ultrasound in Medicine (SHKAUM), which he led until 2007. This association organized 18 professional-scientific activities (symposia, an ultrasound school for medical applications, workshops, lectures, and the 2007 Congress of the Kosovo Association for Ultrasound Application).

He applied several times for teaching positions at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Prishtina (in March 2002, July 2004, February 2006, April 2007, and May 2010) but never received a response, positive or negative.

On June 3, 2013, he was appointed Assistant Professor at the DIU Libertas International University in Zagreb, Croatia, and on September 17, 2014, became a professor at the public Fehmi Agani University in Gjakovë.

On February 18, 2022, he was named an Ambassador for Peace by the Universal Peace Federation.

He has published and presented 186 papers in local and international journals and at professional and scientific meetings both locally and abroad, authored a textbook for ultrasound school students specializing in gynecology, and a book on breast diseases.

He is a member of the Kosovo Medical Chamber, a member of the Kosovo Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ leadership, President of the Kosovo Association for Ultrasound Application in Medicine from 2001–2007, a member of the Croatian Medical Association (Hrvatski Lječnički Zbor), a member of the ISUOG (International Society of Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology), an honorary member of the Albanian Perinatology Association, and an honorary member of the Kosovo College of Surgeons.

Since 2018, he has served as the Director of the Ian Donald Inter-University School of Medical Ultrasound for the Republic of Kosovo, a position he still holds.

He lives and works in Prizren. He is married and has five children.