Slovak medical school hosts around 200 Icelandic students

About 200 Icelanders are studying medicine at Jessenius Medical Faculty in Martin, Slovakia, according to mbl.is. The faculty’s dean, Andrea Čalkovská, says 21 Icelandic students were admitted this year.

The faculty is part of Comenius University, Slovakia’s oldest and largest university, founded 110 years ago. The university has two medical faculties, in Martin and the capital, Bratislava.

Čalkovská, a physiology teacher and researcher, is serving her second four-year term as dean and plans to seek a third. She graduated from the faculty in 1990, then spent five years conducting research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden before returning to Martin.

She said the faculty admitted its first Icelandic students in 2012, and that they now make up a substantial share of its international students. The faculty is pleased to welcome them, she said, and understands that many return home or move elsewhere after graduating.

Tómas Þór Ágústsson, medical director at Landspítali, addressed Icelandic students at the school on the importance of doctors seeking management positions. Čalkovská said her early interest in physiology had led her away from clinical medicine, adding that her career gave her more time to take on management roles.

The faculty encourages students from different countries to mix at shared events, Čalkovská said. Icelandic and other international students often arrange their own activities, while Slovak students tend to email her to ask for support or funding, she said.

A topping-out celebration was held during the reporter’s visit for a new hospital being built a short distance from the medical school. Students will study and work there during their training.

Martin Janík, the faculty’s vice-dean for international education and affairs, said 500 international students study medicine there, including 200 from Iceland. Čalkovská said the number of Icelandic students varies slightly from year to year; at one point, the faculty had 400 Norwegian students.

The medical programme is continually developing, Čalkovská said. This academic year, the faculty introduced a dedicated subject covering artificial intelligence and telemedicine.