Damla Ãœnal is a 20 year old medical student from Ankara

Do you live with your parents or on your own?
I live on my own.

How’s the university life in Ankara ?
The university life in Ankara is perfect. You can attend lots of organizations, you can do lots of things, for example theatre, concerts and parties And you can attend lot of courses like percussion, drama and more. The life in Ankara is cheap for a student’s budget. You can do a lot with little money.

In which study year are you?
Second year.

How many hours a week do you spend on your study?
Generally we have 18-20 hours theoretical lessons and 6-8 practical lessons in a week. But of course it is changing week to week. And also in our time beside the school time, we have to study because we have very frequent exams.

Is it possible for everyone to study medicine in Turkey?
Yes it is possible to study medicine for everyone. The only thing which is important is your score at the university entering exam. We pay €600 for a year in medical school, because our universities are generally government’s universities so we don’t need to pay so much. Sometimes the government helps paying this €600 too, in this situation you pay €150 for a year.

What do you think is the best part of the Turkish medical education?
Our professors are so kind and they always help us. In medical education in Turkey, if you want to learn more, our teachers are always near us for our goodness and for our success. I think this is the best thing for a student, especially for a medical student.

You joined the Twinning Project (an exchange program of IFMSA) and you met a lot of Dutch medical students and you were introduced in the university life of Rotterdam. What do you think that is the biggest difference in study medicine in Rotterdam and Ankara?
I think the medical education in Dutch provides a lot of free time for students. The Dutch students have a lot of time for activities (especially parties). And I think the Dutch students have to study more at home.

Describe your life in 2020….
I think I will be at the neurology department of Hacettepe University and trying to find out something about MS (multiple sclerosis) So specific, isn’t it?

 

Photo by Frank Kovalchek, shared under Creative Common License