Nearly third of students at Romanian medical school in Iași are foreigners

Out of 9,908 students enrolled at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy (UMF) in Iași last year, 2,953 were foreigners coming from 84 countries, according to a report from the university.

A total of 1,628 candidates competed for one of the 615 spots in classes taught in English, French, and Romanian at the university this year. The fiercest competition was in the French language teaching programs, with 760 candidates vying for 250 spots, according to G4Media, citing Ziarul de Iasi.

Among foreign students, most came from France (841), followed by Israel (449), and Morocco (355). The ranking of the top 5 countries of origin is made complete with the Republic of Moldova and Greece.

Foreign students come to study medicine in Romania due to the relatively low taxes perceived by Romanian universities. This summer, however, Romanian and foreign students at the same Iași medical school protested, expressing their dissatisfaction with the increase in accommodation and tuition fees, as well as the imposition of high attendance requirements in classes.

A report on the 2023 admissions, conducted by the Rector of the "Grigore T. Popa" University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași (UMF), Prof. Dr. Viorel Scripcariu, highlights that most of this year’s candidates came from Iași, with over 700 out of 2,108. In fact, the counties in the Moldova region are responsible for over 1,700 of the total 2,108 candidates, as the university's recruitment pool is predominantly in the northeastern part of the country.

(Photo source: Thicha Satapitanon | Dreamstime.com)