Hey
Current UMED student here.
I'm no good at introductions, but I suppose ppl who research Eatern-European medical school have already made up their minds to go.
Just here to say...
please don't go, for whatever its worth.
Check this out:
http://studymed.umed.pl
Recently the UMED (Medical University of Lodz)
website has been updating rigorously to keep up appearances of their
internationally renowned profile. As a current student I can't help but smile and feel a need to clarify some pieces of information.
All university websites have to be taken with a grain of salt; they are ultimately
marketing tools. BUT even the best universities need to showcase their achievements. Unfortunately for the Med Uni of Lodz (UMED or sometimes MUL...they can't make up their minds..it tends to get confused with Medical University of Lublin ) those achievements are limited, and must be fabricated, or exploited.
Just to break-down some of my personal favs:
1. I'm LUVIN' the dynamic banner that displays some nonsense buzz-phrases like "
Students from 54 different countries!" Holy cow that's impressive.
Another one reads "
Best and most modern clinical hospital in Central Europe." Cool, but Central Europe is not a place. If you consider Poland Central Europe, then just say Poland. So it should read "
Best and most modern clinical hospital in Poland" Not to belay the point here, but this is unsubstantiated.
"
The best sport organization among medical universities in Poland" Cool. This statement is again completely unsubstantiated, and the AZS (the sports organization) is NOT open to English division students. I mean not literally, but pretty much.
Another one says "J
oin the PreMed course, entrance without an exam." If they are being honest, why not say "
Entrance to the university to all programs without the exam" This is a fact.
"One of the biggest medical universities in Poland" Size doesn't matter tho..and which is the biggest then? The bigger the university, the better the quality?
"Poland the biggest number of students in Europe just after the UK" What does that have to do with the medical school? This only strengthens the point that the school is a diploma mill!
70 years of tradition in medical education? more on that later....
What's better than nonsense banners?
STOCK PHOTOS!!
The quotes from students are OK, freedom of speech i suppose...
but look:
Vanessa Pasztor's only claim is that at this University allowed her
to meet people around the world...OK? You wouldn't get that from ANY other school?
Even more enraging is the quote by Dr. Leke , who's claim is the UMED students are
a diverse group with creative minds and boundless enthusiasm?? How does that apply to 1. the quality of education 2. the accomplishments of these individuals, and more importantly 3. YOUR accomplishments!
Remember these are just 4 students.
:crazy:
2. The video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F48HV1biONI
Give me a second here fam....
Let's break in down...script and cinematography..
"I have always dreamt of becoming a doctor."
Does that sentence make sense?
This dude is walking down the shopping district of Manufaktura. This mall has absolutely nothing to do with the University. But it's a nice shot..
"A friend from Poland told me about the Medical University of LOOdz. It gave him a solid education and a better shot for finding a job in the EU and beyond." Did this friend's solid education from Lodz help him get a job....as a doctor? Not clarified..
Just to be clear, where is "beyond"? Like ...Kazakhstan?
They won't say USA, Canada, Australia...that would be lying..
The shots of the kids in the library are nice, but this library opened THIS year, and was still a reno-job when i saw it in October 2016. There are virtually NO English language textbooks available for students, EVER. They have to be bought. I don't know how that girl found that
Harrison's Internal Medicine book on the shelf. She probably put it there and went to retrieve it.
I digress.
"It's been a year since that conversation. " Cool, next we have a shot of a teacher with some TV screen. Never during my studies have we had class in the library...that would be pretty weird.
And what the hell are they watching??A CPR video? Why wouldn't you teach CPR on actual mannequins like they do in HIGH SCHOOL!!
On that note we have NEVER had a class with a TV, watching a movie. Especially not on that HD masterpiece the EU must have purchased for them for their new library. Still, very nice.
"I understand now that a great education is based not only on qualified staff, but also the use of modern technology, and the university's international character."
These guys are STILL IN THE LIBRARY! WHAT ARE THEY PLAYING, Wii? That one girl is reading 50 shades of grey or something..
Ok let's break down the quote. "
Qualified staff" k you have me there. You are taught by Polish doctors. Polish doctors who know anything about the EU, or beyond??? no..
"Modern technology" is best utilized for Nintendo Wii in this case, really, because it isn't used during your studies AT ALL!
"University's international character" for being a diploma mill
A floating quote reads
"70 years of medical education." In the Polish division fam!!!
And even this is misconstrued. Poland belonged for decades to the USSR and the universities in Lodz then were different, truly, to what you see today. The military faculty was the main one, and since they have broken into basically 3 different Medical school.
1. Military faculty - PL
2. Military faculty in Eng
3. Medical University of Lodz- PL
The First two are the Hallera based ones, with low standard of education, and the 3rd is NOT involved in the ENG-division AT ALL!
Next, a nice shot of the Hallera dorm. No propaganda here, its pretty nice. Although i find reading my recall books upside-down increasingly difficult...
"To this day, I am still grateful for my friend for telling me about the Medical University of LOOdz."
You see an auditorium, with floating heads. K this is the AULA 1000. You will see this ONCE during Welcome Ceremony or whateverthehell that is, and maybe one more time if you choose to go to grad. boom.
Next is the dentistry building. Pretty decent, reserved mainly for DMD students, however. It is in the didactic center. Those kids are MD students. i know that for a fact they have no idea what they are doing...
"This is the place i found everything that I have been looking for"
The GUY on the computer (NOT the running man) is the coolest teacher at the school. He is not Polish and not even a doctor, and what you see is the Dynamo-Lab, and physiology laboratory that is set up within the MUL, run by mainly PhD students of Physiotherapy and Physics departments. You will not set foot in this lab your entire time in MUL.
Next, students having lunch...again at MANUFAKTURA! A shopping center separate from the city.
Glad I was able to clear up some stuff!
3. Recent Events
I really love how they post stuff that happened after the fact.
Taiwanese Ambassador..k..
Cultural Soiree.
What is that. The Cultural soiree was organized ENTIRELY by an entity separate from the University called the MUL SGAA (
Medical University of Lodz Student Government and Alumni Association) This group was created by US/Canadian/UK students studying at the university something like 6-7 years ago, and since then has been putting up the cultural soiree and the final year charity event. Now you might say that Universities world-wide have student unions that are self organized etc. Yes, that is true. But cultural potlucks usually aren't posted as Recent Events for the Universities achievements.
Ok so this is only for English division. Still... It was a
potluck people.
Rector's award
It's a slippery slope, the Rector's award. I HATE to say what everyone is thinking, but the GPA calculations are not calculated based on any EU university standard, but calculated like HS quiz.
Some info came out in recent years that students that pass a class, with say a 4(B) can take the exam again, and get a 5 (A), which averages to 4.5. And a 4.5 is the minimum to apply for this rector's award. This practice should seriously be scrutinized, and would NEVER be accepted at an American school.
I genuinely wish to congratulate the students who won the award, i know it is deserved! But what i wrote isn't false.