Pleven Medical University, Bulgaria

Medical University – Pleven is one of the five medical Universities in Bulgaria. It was established in 1974, expanding the horizons, size and reputation of the City Hospital, founded in 1865. Today, combining traditions of the past with the possibilities of the present, it incorporates educational and therapeutic facilities, contemporary pre-clinical base, University Hospital with more than 1000 beds and clinics in all major medical fields, as well as a large number of specialized clinics and research units with modern diagnostic and therapeutic equipment. These are efficiently used to treat patients, train students, trainee physicians, postgraduates and for research work.

The educational process in MU-Pleven is carried out in three Faculties, a Medical College and a specialized Department:

• Faculty of Medicine
• Faculty of Public Health
• Faculty of Health Care
• Medical College
• Department of Language and Specialized Training

The University has all the necessary theoretic, pre-clinical and clinical departments required for higher medical education. At the moment of writing, more than 6000 Bulgarian and international students from over 30 countries have graduated from the University.
The current number of students is 2044. The total number of international students studying Medicine in English-medium course is 519. For the current academic year 2014/2015 the number of the newly-admitted international students is 163 from 25 countries, the biggest community of students (88) are citizens of Great Britain. The vivid international community at MU-Pleven includes students from: Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Turkey, Nigeria, Albania, Cyprus, Congo, Syria, Algeria, USA, Japan, Great Britain and France.
835 young physicians from Bulgaria and abroad are taking postgraduate courses at different specialized clinics, part of the University Hospital. Highly qualified lecturers with comprehensive academic experience are employed. The educational process is carried out in 24 departments by more than 60 Professors and 300 Assistant Professors. Most of them are members of national and international scientific and medical societies and authors of research studies.

The University has two student hostels with over 400 beds. The hostel rooms are double- and triple- bed rooms, centrally heated, each having a bathroom. Students are not required to live in the hostels and may choose private accommodation instead. Meals are provided at the students’ canteen at a discount.
The sports facilities at the University enable the students to have regular physical training in different sport disciplines. There is an indoor multipurpose sports center with basketball and volleyball fields and a tennis court.

The library at MU-Pleven is the only one of its size in North-West and Central Bulgaria, specializing in medical literature. It was established in 1974 with the main purpose of facilitating the educational, scientific and diagnostic needs of the University and the University Hospital. The library is divided into several sectors: borrowing section with free access; reading room for lecturers with Internet access; reading room for students; reading room for self-study with audio and video materials; internet hall; depository and offices.