A new English-speaking Department of Medicine is starting at the University of Thessaly on October 7, which will welcome 40 international students in Larissa. This is the first foreign-language department at this university and the fourth in a row, after the Universities of Thessaloniki, Athens and Crete.

The University’s “call” to foreign students includes a commitment to an excellent level of study in the birthplace of western medicine. High quality scientific research in collaboration with Greek and international research centers is a priority for the University, while students have the opportunity to participate in various research projects and have practical training in the laboratories of the Departments of Medicine. On the part of the Rector’s Authorities of the University of Thessaly, they declare themselves ready to welcome the 40 new international students.

The Department of Medicine of the University of Thessaly, which according to international rankings is between 300-400, has been operating in Larissa since 1985. As for the newly established English-speaking Department, it will operate in parallel with its Greek-speaking counterpart. It is recalled that in Greece there are already successfully operating Departments of Medicine at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and the University of Crete.

The process of selection of students was conducted in three phases and a waiting list was established. Regarding their origin, most of the incoming medical students will come from Cyprus but there will also be students from France, Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Slovakia, Bulgaria, India, Saudi Arabia as well as and one from the United States of America.

And according to the professors who took part in the selection of the students, they all have a particularly high standard. They even report that they received a total of 180 applications for the 40 places. Criteria for the selection of the Larissa department were – based on the responses of the interested students – the fact that it is the city where Hippocrates, the father of medical science, lived, while they took the parameter “security” and the low crime rate in Larissa into serious consideration.

As mentioned above, the English-speaking Department of Medicine will operate in parallel with the corresponding Greek-speaking Department at both sites. All faculty members will be lecturers, but it is considered necessary to recruit additional scientific staff, which will be funded by the ELKE (Special Account for Research Funds), which is responsible for the management of the Department’s resources. These include the tuition fees of the English-speaking Department of Medicine, which amount to 12,000 € per year.