Towards foreign shores

Romania, which lies in the Central-South-Eastern part of Europe is going all out to woo Indian students to its shores, especially with regard to medical education. Recently the dean of the faculty of medicine of dentistry and pharmacy of the University of Constanta - one of the biggest universities of Romania, Corneliu Amariei was in the Capital to look for possible tie-ups and strategy to attract Indian students.He said: "The University of Constanta offers high-quality medical education on a par with reputed medical institutions around the world and we will be more than happy to see Indian students come and study there."
According to the second secretary, Cultural and Political Affairs, Embassy of Romania in India, Daniela Tane, "During the communist regime in Romania, as a part of the state policy, medical education was nurtured and proper efforts were made to create a world-class infrastructure and facilities in place." She remarked that now the need was felt to attract foreign students to Romania so that these facilities could be put to much better use.
Amariei said: "The university has 20,000 students on its rolls. With regard to foreign students intake, every year we take 80-100 students in the field of dentistry and 120 students in the area of general medicine. However, we do not have any Indian students studying at our campus as of now and we are very keen to invite them and study at Constanta."
The university offers both undergraduate and postgraduate courses in dentistry and general medicine. "For foreign students, the medium of instruction is English, however if they want to learn the Romanian language, they are absolutely free to do so," Amariei pointed out. He added, "We offer courses ranging from speciality to superspeciality areas, in surgery, neurosurgery, orthodontics, maxillofacial, among others."
Medical education in Romania costs far less than in any other country. Citing statistics, Tane said: "The cost factor comes to almost 10 times less than in any other country of the world. Additionally, the student benefits, as the cost of living is quite affordable and Romanians welcome foreigners very warmly."
Speaking on the recognition accorded to Romanian degrees, Tane remarked, "Romania will join the European Union (EU) in 2007; subsequently our degrees not only in medicine, but in other areas too will become recognised all over Europe. But, even now, our qualifications, especially in medicine are sought-after."
Students who want to apply to a Romanian university need to contact the embassy; they will get an application form to fill up and their applications will be forwarded to the Ministry of Education in Romania, which will issue a Letter of Acceptance to confirm the admission.