Medical University - Pleven, one of the five medical universities in Bulgaria, was established in 1974, aiming to expand the horizons, size and reputation of the City Hospital, founded in 1865. Today, combining traditions of the past with the present possibilities, 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 doctors, post-graduates as well as for research work.

Structure of Medical University - Pleven:

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

MU - Pleven has all theoretic, pre-clinical and clinical departments required for higher medical education. Up to date, more than 6000 Bulgarian and foreign students from over 30 countries have graduated from the University.
The current number of students is 2044. 275 of them are foreign students, including 78 of Indian nationality – the biggest community of foreign students at the university at the moment of writing. International students come from many countries: Macedonia, Serbia, Ukraine, Moldova, Greece, Turkey, Nigeria, Albania, Cyprus, Congo, Syria, Algeria, USA, Japan, Great Britain and France. At the moment of writing, 835 young doctors from Bulgaria and abroad are taking postgraduate courses at the different specialized clinics of the University Hospital.

The current number of PhD students is 53.

Highly qualified lecturers with comprehensive academic experience are employed. The course of instruction is carried out in 24 departments by more than 60 professors and aound 300 assistant professors. Most of them are members of national and international scientific and medical societies and authors of research studies.

The academic year traditionally begins in the middle of September and ends at the end of May next year. It has two semesters of 16 weeks each, including 1-week holidays for Christmas and Easter. Because of the long periods of time necessary for processing the documents /especially visas/ of international candidates, the General Assembly of MU-Pleven decided that the academic year for international students (English-language course of training) is to begin in the middle of February and end at the end of December. Since 2006-2007, the University started organizing preparatory courses in English for international students coming from non-English-speaking countries who wish to join the English language medical course.

Various modern teaching methods are applied in the academic process. These include theoretical lectures, small group practical tutorials and seminars. Additionally, the students may join extracurricular teaching courses and scientific circles functioning at the departments. Training groups are composed of maximum 6 students.

Current monitoring and assessment of the students' knowledge in each subject is done by Assistant Professors, who are responsible for instructing student groups during the semester. Examinations are conducted in all required subjects of instruction after each semester within the examination session, which lasts 45 days. Final assessment of knowledge acquired by the students after they have completed their full course of study is given by the State Examination Board at a comprehensive theoretical and practical examination.

The University has two students 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 hostels and may go into private accommodation if they wish. 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, basketball and volleyball fields and tennis courts.

The students can freely join students' unions and societies. Foreign students can establish their own national, ethnic and religious communities the functioning of which has to be in compliance with the laws of the Republic of Bulgaria. According to their interests and individual capabilities, students can become members of different scientific circles, culture and sports clubs.
In accordance with the principles of non-discrimination the University does not have any different attitude to students in connection to their nationality, sex, age, religion, sexual orientation, ethnical and political affiliations, financial and health status.

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