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Graduated From Plovdiv Medical University Bulgaria & Now a doctor in Birmingham! AMA

Hey guys, I am a graduate from Plovdiv Medical University in Bulgaria and I’m currently working in the UK. If anyone has any questions about studying in Bulgaria or working in the UK, fire away!

(edited 3 years ago)

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Reply 1

pwk123

Why did you choose to go to med school in Bulgaria?
Why didn't you stay in Bulgaria to work?
Talking with your colleagues, is there much of a difference between UK and Bulgarian Med School?

Reply 2

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by pwk123

Why did you choose to go to med school in Bulgaria?
Why didn't you stay in Bulgaria to work?
Talking with your colleagues, is there much of a difference between UK and Bulgarian Med School?

Long story short, I didn’t get a place in the UK.
I live in the UK and my family’s based here too so I only went there to study - the course is entirely taught in English but you do need to learn at least a little bit of the language. They teach you that during med school, but yeah even with this my Bulgarian wasn't a 100% and I’d much rather practice medicine in English too lol
There are differences yes, but not so much. In general the principle is the same, just slightly different methods or different rules & policies which vary from hospital to hospital. Its all a learning process but so far so good 😅

Reply 3

aimanimran

Original post by Bullet Knuckle

Hey guys, I am a graduate from Plovdiv Medical University in Bulgaria and I’m currently working in the UK. If anyone has any questions about studying in Bulgaria or working in the UK, fire away!

Hi!! I'm just finishing my first year at Plovdiv and I am also from the UK.

Do you see a difference between yourself and UK graduates?
Was it hard to get a job?
Did you do F1 or did you go straight to F2 and why?

Thank you so much!!

Reply 4

renu2018

Original post by bullet knuckle

hey guys, i am a graduate from plovdiv medical university in bulgaria and i’m currently working in the uk. If anyone has any questions about studying in bulgaria or working in the uk, fire away!

howz living in bulgeria? Is it different from uk? Like weather and all

Reply 5

renu2018

Original post by pwk123

why did you choose to go to med school in bulgaria?
Why didn't you stay in bulgaria to work?
Talking with your colleagues, is there much of a difference between uk and bulgarian med school?

how did you apply? Did u go thro agent?

Reply 6

AspiringMedic21

Did you have to sit the PLAB and was it easy?

Reply 7

Macdeez44

Original post by Bullet Knuckle

Hey guys, I am a graduate from Plovdiv Medical University in Bulgaria and I’m currently working in the UK. If anyone has any questions about studying in Bulgaria or working in the UK, fire away!

Do you recommend doing an under-grad in UK before going abroad?

Thanks for this :smile:

Reply 8

Anonymous #1

hi, i am currently in pleven university but also from the uk, as you know the grade system is different in bulgaria, how does the classifications work, do the grades matter regarding finding jobs or anything, i have been aiming for 6s but have lower grades (3,4) for some etc so was worried if it made a difference and idk who to ask . What is the process after your 6th year, thank you so much :smile:

Reply 9

Anonymous #2

When the thread starter answers only one question of their AMA then dips...

Reply 10

Macdeez44

Original post by Anonymous

When the thread starter answers only one question of their AMA then dips...

😭😭😭it was such a great opportunity to speak to a non agent aswell

Reply 11

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by aimanimran

Hey, sorry for the delay in the replying, its been quite a busy few weeks for me 😅
-There wasn’t really much of a difference tbh apart from their practical skills which was definitely a lot better and they were more confident with doing certain things, but you also get a chance to learn on the job like I did. My advice would also be to try and get as much practical experience as possible, it really helps!
-Nah, wasnt hard especially cos of covid jobs were readily available. I applied as a locum for a few months to gain some experience and then started as a trust grade doctor (fy1 level). Basically I was employed by the nhs trust directly. And again I chose fy1 purely because I wanted to take my time to soak in as much experience as possible

Reply 12

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by renu2018

howz living in bulgeria? Is it different from uk? Like weather and all

Weather is amazing!! Especially in summer. Only downside is not having family with you and most importantly you can’t get access to local foods like you do in the UK, so you would have to post your own food unique to your culture or bring it with you when you fly over.

Reply 13

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by renu2018

how did you apply? Did u go thro agent?

Yeah, I applied through an agent but they’re closed down now.

Reply 14

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by Anonymous

When the thread starter answers only one question of their AMA then dips...

Hahaha sorry 😅 but I’m sure you’ll understand when you become a doctor! Keep asking your questions, I’ll check and reply whenever I get a chance :smile:

Reply 15

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by AspiringMedic21

Did you have to sit the PLAB and was it easy?

Nope didn’t do plab but from 2024 everyone whether you study in uk or eu will have to do ukmla

Reply 16

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by Macdeez44

Do you recommend doing an under-grad in UK before going abroad?

Thanks for this :smile:

Well, it’s really up to you but there’s no added advantage of doing it. So unless you’re not sure if you want to do medicine just yet or you’re not ready, then I’ll say go for it. It’s 6 long and hard years, wouldn’t want to unnecessarily add more years to it unless you’re not ready.

Reply 17

Bullet Knuckle

Original post by Anonymous

Grades don’t matter at all! At least to get an fy1 or fy2 job, I dont know about later on, though I suspect it’s the same. What they focus on is your interview and experiences in doing certain procedures/work experience at uk hospitals, etc etc. But mainly your performance in the interview when answering medical related questions

Reply 18

Anonymous #2

Original post by Bullet Knuckle

Hahaha sorry 😅 but I’m sure you’ll understand when you become a doctor! Keep asking your questions, I’ll check and reply whenever I get a chance :smile:

I'm an economist. I have no interest in becoming a doctor in the medical sense, though I upgrade to PhD status in October, so another type of doctor.

I just came on this thread because I remember a friend told me that he could still study medicine after he didn't do so well in his A-level. He mentioned Plovdiv. Thus, my curiosity made me click on this thread when it came up on my feed, because what he told me sounded dodgy.

Keep up the good work saving lives and whatnot.

Reply 19

bryansean

Hi, I just wanted to ask how old are first year students currently studying at Plovdiv? I am currently finished 2nd year of an Science degree here in the UK and I still want to pursue Medicine as that was what I hoping to do after my A-Levels in 2019. I just turned 20 two months back and I feel I might be a bit old to study abroad since I would be 2 years behind all my peers? Also would you recommend me to pursue graduate medicine or go abroad now since I would finish my degree in the same year both ways?