Medical Education at the University of Turku in Finland
My questions:
Hello
I am Egor Kugno, a 15-year-old pupil of the 9th grade in Moscow school.
I have a small website — https://kugno.ru / where I write about my studies, exams and publish various answers from Russian ministries (about paying for studies abroad, transferring money for studies and so on)
The first 7 years I studied in an ordinary (good) Moscow school, had additional classes in biology (microbiology) and chemistry; last year I passed through the competition entrance exams to Chemical School #1501 — #10 in the rating of Moscow schools (it is approximately #30 among ALL schools in Russia). The school chemistry was very good — 6 hours a week, all year round (the standard in Russia is 2 hours a week, now there is no chemistry at all in humanities classes), but everything else, except chemistry, was not very good, and I went to 9th grade to school at the Higher School of Economics — (through entrance exams, of course) — where chemistry is a bit less, but everything else is much better)
Although I am still studying 2.5 years, I started researching universities of the world — to understand where I can go to study, what requirements I have to meet, whether to study languages other than English and Spanish that I am studying now at school, and of course — whether my parents will be able to pay for my education.
At the moment I am most interested in medicine (pathology, chemotherapy and hematology), chemistry (more like laboratory management) and pharmacy (more like managing science and research in a pharmaceutical company, but of course with a full understanding of what scientists do, and with a deep knowledge of biochemistry).
Right now I am studying primarily medical education, as it is the most complicated, expensive, there is a lot of information and it is the hardest to find.
Later I will gather information about chemical and pharmaceutical education.
I checked out your university’s website, but I have a few questions for you:
1. Is it possible to enter your university after I finished my 11 years of school in Russia — or do I need to take another course at a university in Russia?
I am studying English (I will graduate with a C1) and advanced chemistry and biology. Starting next year, our school will have compulsory participation in all the Olympiads in Russia for schoolchildren — all in all, it’s a great school.
But, as I wrote, we are only 11, not 12.
2. Do you have any students from Russia who are studying to be a doctor?
3. Are there any quotas for foreigners to study medicine at your university (and are there any quotas for Russians?)
4. Do I understand correctly — I need to study for 6 years?
5. Does your university have dormitories for students for the entire period of study?
5.1 If there are no dormitories (or there is a five-year waiting list), can the university act as a guarantor when renting accommodation?
6. What is the cost of tuition and living in dormitories and all other expenses per year for studying to be a doctor at your university (I mean education-related expenses — i.e. textbooks, labs, etc. — not including food and transportation, of course).
I know that prices are going up, but the overall costs need to be understood early on.
6.1. are there scholarships for Russians to study and/or live in?
7. What exams do I need to take besides English?
7.1 What language certificates do I need to register?
7.2 Is it possible to study in English?
This is an important question because I know that in most countries medical education is done in the national languages of the respective countries and I think that 2.5-3 years of training in any language is enough for level C1 — if taken seriously.
7.3 Are internal Russian achievements recognized and important (participation in Olympiads, successful passing exams in Russian universities)
8. Is it compulsory to take preparatory and/or language courses at your university before entering university?
9. What is the further procedure of training as a doctor after graduation (postgraduate course, residency, specialization) and obtaining a medical license (if you know)?
10. Will I be able to work after graduation?
11. If training to be a doctor is not possible, please tell me if it is possible to study to be a pharmacist (if you have one) and a chemist (biotechnology, as an option — chemical engineering for pharmacy)
Great if you can indicate in your answer if it is possible to study in English for a chemist or a pharmacist)
P.S. Even though I’m only 15 years old, I’ve started seriously looking for a university to get a good education. I have noticed that many universities put information in PDF format on their websites. This, in my opinion, is very wrong. Not everyone REALLY knows English (French, Chinese….), and such guys, going to a university website and not finding information that can be read in Google Translate, will leave forever and not come back.
Sorry for the unsolicited advice))) — But it would be great to have all the information about the university not only in PDF format, but also as plain text on the websites)))
P.S.2. If you have students from Russia, could you give them my email address or forward them my letter?
I would love to talk to them.
Thank you very much again.
Egor Kugno
Answer:
Dear applicant,
Thank you for your enquiry and your interest to study in the University of Turku.
Full degree programmes in Medicine/Dentistry on undergraduate level are currently only available in Finnish at the University of Turku.
You would need to speak Finnish fluently in order to apply.
Note that the Finnish universities do not offer any language preparation year options; you should be fluent in Finnish already when applying.
You need to demonstrate your Finnish skills with a certificate when you apply and the application process includes a written entrance exam in Finnish.
There are no different quotas for foreigners — all applicants apply in the same way and are evaluated equally.
For further information about the application (in Finnish) please see www.utu.fi/hae.
There are no tuition fees nor scholarships available for studies conducted in Finnish.
The university does not have dormitories but most students reside at Student Village Foundation, www.tys.fi.
The living costs are at least 600 euros per month.
Upon graduation you apply for right to practise medicine and after that you can work in Finland as a doctor.
If you want to continue your studies after the 6 year degree to specialisation or PhD, you need to apply for those separately.
You can also check the website http://www.studyinfo.fi – there you find all the degree programmes offered at Finnish universities.
Kind regards,
Enni Laaksonen (Ms)
Opiskelijavalinta ja hakijapalvelut / Admission Services
20014 Turun yliopisto / University of Turku, Finland