The first foreign language undergraduate program that has been operating for the last two years at the School of Medicine of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki has been developing with complete success since its total income amounts to 1.5 million euros.

The program has attracted students from 27 countries and from all five continents. It is essentially an “experiment” to attract foreign students to a Greek university which, according to the data, worked positively.

Within the two years that it has been implemented, it has welcomed and accommodated 120 students. For the next year, the third year, there is already interest, although the maximum number of undergraduate students who can take part is only 60, as allowed by the program’s operating regulations.

From March 2021, when international communication for the program began, until today, the program website has 120,000 unique visitors.

More than 3,500 students have expressed interest, of which a third submitted a complete application. Tuition is 12,000 euros per year.

According to the Head of the School of Medicine, Kyriakos Anastasiadis, with these revenues, the operation of the program has been covered with 22 young scientists in the teaching and administrative staff of Medicine, 2 central auditoriums in the School and 4 in the collaborating hospitals of the city, classrooms have been renovated , workshops and office and reception areas. Consumables have also been secured, 300 tablets have been installed for the department’s digitized exams (it is a pioneering initiative), online screening has been provided while 18 scholarships and awards have been given.

The performances of the students of the English-speaking program are equivalent to those of the Greek-speaking students. The success rates in the course exams of the visiting students are 95%.

The successful operation of the program, as mentioned by the Head of the Faculty of Medicine of AUTH “is proof of the great prospects of Greek education in the international market. It is a new source of national income, a multiplier of the country’s reputation, a booster of international relations and the competitive position of Greece not only in medical services, but also in scientific and technological research and development, entrepreneurship, tourism and culture. It capitalizes on the historical relationship of the country with Medicine, multiplies the global reputation of Greek doctors, maximizes the international positive evaluation of the graduates of the Greek educational system”.

Source: Hellas Journal