In Bulgaria, since 1949, the medical specialty of "Medical Laboratory", later renamed "Clinical Laboratory", was authorized by Order No. 29 of the Bulletin of the Ministry of Health. In 1950, Decree No. 523 of the Presidium of the National Assembly established the ISUL, and in 1951 the first 14 doctors specialized in the specialty of "Clinical Laboratory". Clinical laboratory has been an independent scientific discipline since 1962 with the code number in the VAC 03.01.12.
At the Medical University - Varna the discipline "Clinical Laboratory" has been studied since its establishment in 1960. In the beginning it was included in the curriculum of the disciplines "Propedeutics of Internal Diseases" and "Internal Diseases".
In 2000, the Clinical Laboratory was added to the Department of General Medicine as an independent Teaching Sector (TS). The Department is now called the Department of General Medicine and Clinical Laboratory. At that time the composition of the Board of Clinical Laboratory included. R. Pateva, Assoc. Dr. V. Mihova, Dr. St. Tomcheva, Dr. D. Skocheva, Dr. St. Tancheva. Since 2008 the Head of the Clinical Laboratory Board is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Margaritka Boncheva, PhD
In 2021 by the decision of the Academic Council of MU-Varna an new Department of Clinical Laboratory was established. Its first head is Assoc. Prof. Yana Bocheva,MD, PhD.
The Department of Clinical Laboratory uses for training the laboratory facilities of the University Hospital "St. Marina"-Varna, the Naval Hospital in Varna and the Medical Centre "St. Marina"-Varna. The teaching staff maintains close relations with the clinical laboratory lecturers of the Medical Universities in Sofia, Plovdiv, Pleven, the Medical Faculty of Sofia University and the laboratory units of the Tsaritsa Ioanna hospital and Tokuda Hospital and the National Cardiological Hospital in Sofia.
The Department of Clinical Laboratory is accredited for training of PhD students in the scientific specialty "Clinical Laboratory". Since the establishment of the department in 2021, the Ph. Doctoral degree in medicine in the scientific specialty" Clinical Laboratory" have defended three doctoral students from the composition of the department, and three others are currently studying.
The Department of Clinical Laboratory at MU-Varna has an active position in the work of the Bulgarian Society of Clinical Laboratory, whose chairman for the period 2023-2025 is prof. Yana Bocheva, Ph. The President of the BDCL-Varna is Assoc. Prof. Daniela Gerova, PhD- Administrative Assistant at the Department.
