More than 300 students from 31 countries will be studying at the Medical University in the town of Pleven during the 2021/22 academic year, the university’s press centre has announced. The highest number come from Italy, India, the UK, Japan, Ireland, Germany, Turkey and Greece, but there are also students from China, Sri Lanka, Canada, Lebanon, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Korea and Zimbabwe. For the first time there are citizens of Turkmenistan and Kosovo.

Because of the epidemic situation and the restrictions, the welcoming and the adaptation of the foreign students takes place online. The programme includes a virtual walk-through the university, information sessions etc. Before they start their studies, the foreign students take a course in the Bulgarian language, where they are given additional information about Pleven and about Bulgaria.

The official start of the new academic year for the new students enrolled at the university is on 4 February, and regular in-person classes will begin on 14 February.

In 1997, the Medical University in Pleven was the first university to have introduced medicine for foreign students entirely in the English language. More than 1,250 foreign students from 56 countries are enrolled in the English-language course in medicine at the university. The foreign citizens who have graduated the university are now practicing medicine all over the globe – from Europe to the US, and from India to Australia.