Today, the preparatory courses for application to medical universities started for over 20 Roma youth and high school students wishing to join the competition for admission to the university programs in Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry.
The selection of the participants, as well as the running of the courses, is carried out by the Minorities’ Health Problems Foundation with the financial support of the Trust for a Social Achievement.
With more than 40 applications received and a selection process including interviews with both the applicants and their families, the courses start with 24 participants from small and large settlements from all over the country - Provadia, Sinemorets, Razgrad, Cherven Bryag, Topolovgrad, Banya, Dolni Tsibar, Brezhani, Kovachevo, Sofia, Sliven, Lom, Pernik, Dupnitsa, Knezha. In the coming months, the participants and their teachers will begin intensive training in Chemistry, Biology and Bulgarian language and literature with the aim of achieving the best possible results and maximizing their chances of admission into universities. All of them will sacrifice a lot - time spent studying and traveling to Sofia and back to be in the classrooms of Medical College - Sofia, fun activities that their peers take for granted at this age, and a lot of patience, perseverance and strength, which will take on a new meaning on the way to the so-desired degrees.
Access to university, and even more so - competitive access to degrees such as Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy, continues to be a serious barrier for dozens of Roma youth. At the same time, Roma medical professionals who have already graduated are among the most respected professionals both among their colleagues in medical circles and among their communities. A large part of them, along with their work in leading medical institutions, are also mentors of future generations of medical specialists. This also explains the growing interest of young people in participating in initiatives like this one.
The training and support for generations of doctors, nurses, midwives and other health professionals is one of TSA’s most significant investments. With it, we aim to contribute to revealing the huge, but often hidden, potential of the Roma communities to nurture and give way to the professionals our country so desperately needs.