Fotografie: Matouš Vokatý (2. LF)
On 9 November 2023, the Dean awarded the most outstanding international students at the Second Faculty of Medicine with the titles of “best” and “top”. Explore images capturing the moments of the award ceremony and read interviews with the best students.
On Tuesday 28 November 2023, Dean Marek Babjuk awarded Daniela Faina Rezets, Fernandez Salvador Piña, Fabian Berger, Natalia Sophie von Woisky, Marek Dědek, Ebba Olsson, Leonor Barata Correia Leitão Bandeira, Zena Khartabil, Vendela Roslyn Wihlner, Naomi Genzel, Tatiana Anufrieva with the Top Medical Student Award, and Sana Saffarzadeh and Stamatina Eleni Boura with the Best Medical Student Award. The ceremony took place in the Dean‘s office.
The awards are bestowed annually in accordance with established rules. Beyond symbolising exceptional achievement in a symbolic sense, they also yield significant practical benefits. Recipients of these awards are granted substantial scholarships, either in the form of 70,000 CZK (top students) or 50 percent of their tuition fees.
We interviewed Sana Saffarzadeh and Stamatina Eleni Boura, both multiple recipients of the Best Student Awards, to gain insights into their experiences and perspectives on various aspects of their studies.
Will you reveal us some of your learning habits or tricks?
Sana Certainly, the main thing that helped me throughout the years was not giving up and persevering. Whether sad or stressed, I would be at the library, crying while looking at my notes. I always told myself to “just keep going”, emphasizing that regardless of the results, what matters is to not have regrets about not putting in enough the effort. In tough times, I reminded myself that “we would only really appreciate a day off after a month of hard work; otherwise, it would feel like just a normal day“.
Stamatina Eleni To be honest I would like myself to know any learning tricks but until now I haven't found any. What is most important is to understand that every subject requires a different way of studying and thus you need to learn how to quickly adapt your studying methods and resources to each one. As far as my learning habits are concerned, I prefer to study with some background music to help me focus and also make use of some online videos complementary to textbooks.
Did you encounter any formal or technical problems in studying? How did you handle them?
Sana During my studies, I faced difficulties in remembering information due to the vast amount and variable sources. It was time-consuming to find the right information and retain it. I wrote key words on memos, paper, or even my hand, looking at them at least three times more during the day to help me remember.
Stamatina Eleni Like in every institution there have been problems encountered, but the university cooperating with the student representatives have done a good job resolving a lot of them, a major one being the previous lack of appropriate building facilities to support learning. A still existing issue is the lack of resources provided to the English parallel compared to the Czech one, and while some of the international students and professors have made efforts to solve it, there is more to be done. Although I haven't handled any of the issues personally, all of our concerns are expressed to the student representatives, who are doing their best at facilitating the communication with university's administrators and voicing them.
Which branch of medicine attracts you most and why?
Sana Surgery attracts me the most, but sometimes I question if people, including myself, are genuinely drawn to it or influenced by the cultural perception of surgery being the most wanted and hardest to get into. While I haven't made a final decision, Urology has caught my attention as well due to a positive experience during a 5th-year course. The organized and welcoming community in this department was appealing.
Stamatina Eleni Although I started my journey in this university with an interest in Paediatrics, more fields of medicine have caught my attention and maybe this is something that is going to be happening until the end of my studies. Currently the branches that attract me the most are clinical genetics and neurology, both being two of the most evolving branches in the medical field and leaving room for plenty to be discovered.
What are you planning for the near future?
Sana After finishing this final year, I plan to apply either to hospitals in the UK or here in the Czech Republic.
Stamatina Eleni For now I am trying to focus on this academic year and explore all the opportunities the university is able to offer, i.e., Erasmus or research possibilities.
