Int’l college students transfer to Serbia amid Ukraine battle — science weblog
Speaking to German information outlet DW about his expertise, British medical scholar Shinga Chikura mentioned he thought his plight to grow to be a health care provider was “over” when the battle began.
“I attempted to use in lots of international locations — even in England, France, Germany — and so they all mentioned that they might solely enable me to start out in first 12 months,” he recalled.
“I started to suppose that every one my time in Ukraine had been wasted.”
Nonetheless, in southeastern Serbia on the College of Nis, the establishment had begun to simply accept credit from Ukrainian universities. The college has a medical course in English out there to the scholars at the price of 5,500 euros a 12 months – larger than some European locations, however the worth is offset by the low value of residing.
Chikuraa was one among round 170 medical college students to first make the switch to the College of Nis.
One in all its professors in gynaecology and obstetrics, Milan Trenkic, mentioned that the scholars who’ve since transferred have maybe “introduced one thing with them” from their time in Ukraine.
“I assumed… my time in Ukraine had been wasted”
“They actually anticipate a variety of themselves – and of us, too. Above all, they need our full consideration,” he mentioned.
One other scholar who was affected by the invasion was Saudi Arabian scholar Shireen Rahmani. Earlier than with the ability to flee Ukraine, she skilled the horrors of the battle itself.
“It was actually a really scary, scary interval of my life,” she mentioned.
“As a result of even after the entire scenario once I got here house, for days I had PTSD. Even now once I hear fireworks, the very first thing on my thoughts is, ‘I hope it’s simply fireworks, I hope it’s not bombardment,” she defined.
She had been reviewing a transfer to Serbia earlier than the battle broke out, however the invasion made the choice for her – and whereas she nonetheless has reservations about tensions between Serbia and its neighbour nation Kosovo (a peace deal was tentatively agreed on February 7), she maintained it was the correct one.
“They actually helped me – and never simply with college issues, but additionally discovering lodging and adjusting to life in Serbia. That did me a variety of good,” she mentioned.
Chikura has now spent over 10 months in Serbia, and was relieved to have solely misplaced a 12 months of his course, versus the 5 he may have learning someplace else.
The establishment has reportedly seen a giant soar within the variety of purposes since battle broke out in Ukraine and Trenkic mentioned that the scholars have taken extraordinarily nicely to the adjustment.
“In the event that they don’t perceive one thing linguistically, they instantly examine on their tablets. Fortunately, medical phrases the world over are in Latin,” Trenkic added.