Medical University: Pleven, one of the five medical universities in Bulgaria, was established in 1974, aiming to expand the horizons, size, and reputation of the City Hospital, founded in 1865. Today, combining traditions of the past with the present possibilities, it incorporates educational and therapeutic facilities, a new pre-clinical base, a 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 doctors, postgraduates, and research work.
MU - Pleven has all theoretic, pre-clinical, and clinical departments required for higher medical education. More than 6000 Bulgarian and international students from over 30 countries have graduated from the University.
The current number of students is 2044. Two hundred seventy-five of them are international students, including 78 of Indian nationality – the biggest community of international students at the University at the moment of writing. International students come from many countries: Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Turkey, Nigeria, Albania, Cyprus, Congo, Syria, Algeria, USA, Japan, Great Britain, and France. At the moment of writing, 835 young doctors from Bulgaria and abroad are taking postgraduate courses at the University Hospital's different specialized clinics. The current number of Ph.D. students is 53.
Highly qualified lecturers with comprehensive academic experience are employed. The instruction course is carried out in 24 departments by more than 60 professors and around 300 assistant professors. Most of them are members of national and international scientific and medical societies and authors of research studies.
The academic year 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 necessary for processing the documents /especially visas/ of international candidates, the General Assembly of MU-Pleven decided that the academic year for international students (English-language course of training) is to begin middle of February and end at the end of December. Since 2006-2007, the University started organizing preparatory courses in English for international students from non-English-speaking countries who wish to join the English language medical course.
Various modern teaching methods are applied in the educational process. These include theoretical lectures, small group practical tutorials, and seminars. Additionally, the students may join extracurricular teaching courses and scientific circles functioning at the departments. Training groups are composed of a maximum of 6 students.
Current monitoring and assessment of the students' knowledge in each subject are done by Assistant Professors, who are responsible for instructing student groups during the semester. Examinations are conducted in all required instruction subjects after each semester within the examination session, which lasts 45 days. The students' final assessment of knowledge acquired after they have completed their full course of study is given by the State Examination Board at a comprehensive theoretical and practical examination. The University student's hostels with over 400 beds. The hostel rooms are double- andbedroomsbed rooms, centrally heated, each having a bathroom. Students are not required to live in hostels and may go into private accommodation if they wish. 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 are an indoor multipurpose sports center, basketball and volleyball fields, and tennis courts.
The students can freely join students' unions and societies. International students can establish their own national, ethnic, and religious communities, which have to comply with the Republic of Bulgaria's laws. According to their interests and individual capabilities, students can become members of different scientific circles, culture, and sports clubs. Following the principles of non-discrimination, the University does not have any different attitude to students regarding their nationality, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnic and political affiliations, financial and health status.
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