With the raising of the national tricolor and the flag of the EU, the opening ceremony of the academic year for the newly admitted foreign students at the Medical University – Plovdiv began today. The honor of raising the Bulgarian flag fell to Kiril Kirov, a fifth-year student, Dental Medicine and a participant in the Olympic games in Paris, and the European – Georgios Marakis.
After introducing the Academic body, the Vice-Rector for Educational Activities, Prof. Dr. Veselina Goranova, congratulated the freshmen for their choice to devote themselves to Medicine and study at a university with an European appearance.
“During its 79-year history, Medical University of Plovdiv has established itself as a standard in the education of students, PhD students and specialists in all professional areas in the field of health care – Medicine, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy, Public Health and Health care. Our Alma Mater enters its 80th anniversary as an institution that relies on established academic authority on a national and global scale, that tackles current challenges related to improving human health and quality of life, that opens new opportunities for its scientific teams to be among the leaders on the European and world map,” Prof. Goranova said in her address. He wished the parents to continue to support their ambitious boys and girls and, years from now, to experience together the joy of graduation.
The university welcomed 470 students from 30 countries. Most of them are freshmen from United Kingdom – 190, followed by Greece – 85, and Italy – 66. Among the newly admitted students there are also young people from Germany, Ireland, India, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Canada, Turkey and Pakistan.
The grand opening was honored by Modasar Chaudhry – Ambassador of Pakistan in our country, Dr. Ahmed Almadbukh – Ambassador of Palestine, Soni Dahi – Deputy Ambassador of India, Evangelia Theodoropolou – Secretary at the Embassy of Greece, the General Consul of the Republic of Turkiye in Plovdiv Korhan Kyungeryu, the honorary consuls of Germany – Dr. Mariana Cholakova, Italy – Giuseppe de Francesco and Equatorial Guinea – Vladimir Kisev.
Hamza Shahid-Javed, who will study Medicine, gave a welcome on behalf of the newly admitted students. In response was the speech of the fifth-year student and member of the Student Council of MU-Plovdiv Mohamed Jafar.
An Anatomy atlas, a stethoscope and a blood pressure monitor were awarded to three excellent students from the faculties of Medicine, Dental Medicine and Pharmacy – Ali Saad, Nikolaos Rempis and Atselia Kints.
The ceremony ended with the symbolic passing of the Symbol of knowledge, a ritual introduced in 2019. It was handed by the president of the Student Council, Victoria Karamileva, with the words: “Being a doctor is a vocation and a way of life. Being dedicated to humanity and being able to help people means having enough knowledge to apply professionally and always in the name of good. Dear colleagues, accept the baton of knowledge and move on with dignity.”
