Medical University – Pleven is one of the five medical Universities in Bulgaria. It was established in 1974, expanding the horizons, size and reputation of the City Hospital, founded in 1865. Today, combining traditions of the past with the possibilities of the present, it incorporates educational and therapeutic facilities, contemporary pre-clinical base, University Hospital with more than 1000 beds and clinics in all major medical fields, as well as a large number of specialized clinics and research units with modern diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. These are efficiently used to treat patients, train students, trainee physicians, postgraduates and for research work.
The University has all the necessary theoretic, pre-clinical and clinical departments required for higher medical education. At the moment of writing, more than 6000 Bulgarian and international students from over 30 countries have graduated from the University.
The current number of students is 2044. The total number of international students studying Medicine in English-medium course is 519. For the current academic year 2014/2015 the number of the newly-admitted international students is 163 from 25 countries, the biggest community of students (88) are citizens of Great Britain. The vivid international community at MU-Pleven includes students from: Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Turkey, Nigeria, Albania, Cyprus, Congo, Syria, Algeria, USA, Japan, Great Britain and France.
835 young physicians from Bulgaria and abroad are taking postgraduate courses at different specialized clinics, part of the University Hospital.
The current number of PhD students is 53.
Highly qualified lecturers with comprehensive academic experience are employed. The educational process is carried out in 24 departments by more than 60 Professors and 300 Assistant Professors. Most of them are members of national and international scientific and medical societies and authors of research studies.
The academic year for Bulgarian students traditionally begins in the middle of September and ends at the end of May next year. It has two semesters of 16 weeks each, including 1-week holidays for Christmas and Easter. Because of the long periods of time that are sometimes necessary for processing the documents /especially visas/ of international candidates, the General Assembly at MU-Pleven decided that the academic year for international students (English-language education) will start in the middle of February and end at the end of December. Since 2006-2007 MU-Pleven has began organizing a preparatory course in English language for international students coming from non-English-speaking countries who wish to join the English-language medical course.
Various contemporary methods of teaching are applied in the academic process. These include but are not limited to: theoretical lectures, small group practical tutorials and seminars. Additionally, students may join extracurricular academic courses and scientific circles at the departments. Training groups are composed of maximum 6 students.
Current monitoring and assessment of the students’ knowledge in each subject is done by Assistant Professors, who are responsible for the student groups’ instruction during the semester. Examinations are conducted in all required subjects of instruction after each semester within the examination session, which lasts 45 days. Final assessment of knowledge acquired by the students after completing their full course of study is given by the State Examination Board at a comprehensive theoretical and practical examination.
The University has two student hostels with over 400 beds. The hostel rooms are double- and triple- bed rooms, centrally heated, each having a bathroom. Students are not required to live in the hostels and may choose private accommodation instead. Meals are provided at the students’ canteen at a discount.
The sports facilities at the University enable the students to have regular physical training in different sport disciplines. There is an indoor multipurpose sports center with basketball and volleyball fields and a tennis court.
The students can freely join student unions and societies of their choosing. Foreign students can establish their own national, ethnic and religious communities the functioning of which has to be in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. According to their interests and individual capabilities, students can become members of different scientific circles, culture and sports clubs.
In accordance with the principles of non-discrimination MU-Pleven does not have any different attitude towards students on the basis of their nationality, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnical and political affiliations, financial and health status.
