Staying Safe while Overseas

No matter where you study, be sure to attend to your health and wellbeing.

This is a truly unique time in history that has raised many questions about dealing with the coronavirus. As a student exploring universities worldwide, understanding an institution's priorities to keep students safe and healthy as well as adapt to these phenomenal circumstances is important for your peace of mind. Here are a few things to consider while deciding on schools:

1. School priorities

Is it a public or private university? Are they subsidized by the government and if so, which programmes are high performing and what do they value? Research? Innovation?

As a medical school, health and safety are always at the forefront. The professors have devoted their life's work to researching epidemiology, public health, and chronic conditions, so everyone at the University of Nicosia (UNIC) Medical School is proactive to protect their students, staff and families.

Our doctors, clinicians and alumni all work to assist students during their clinical placement years, and they are on the frontlines managing quality patient care. They advise students, the Ministries of Health, and other governmental offices in best practices for public health and safety as well as serving patients in hospitals worldwide.

The 2020 Times Higher Education (THE) University Impact Rankings, released on 22 April 2020, ranked UNIC as the 42nd university in the world in the core area of Quality Education.

2. Support mechanisms

Choosing to attend a school abroad is a big decision. It's important to consider how the school supports their students and what the ratio of international students is like. This will be critical in helping you make new friends who can support you while you're away.

Students have a great support system for health and safety and career development. With students from more than 60 countries on campus, there are opportunities to build lifelong friendships and a global network at UNIC Medical School.

For career development and support, students are matched with a peer tutor from day one of enrolment (for all programmes) who serves to encourage and advocate for students. Students are then matched with a second peer tutor during their clinical placement years. Career advisers meet regularly one-on-one to track progress and discuss steps for success. This devoted student success team is an essential part of our remarkable 99.4% graduate placement rate.

3. Innovation

Institutional innovation and readiness are critical for the advancement of your career. As a professional, you will need to have a lifelong learning mindset, and choosing a university that cultivates this is critical.

The University of Nicosia quickly responded to the coronavirus crisis by implementing its contingency plan and switching all academic work and lectures online overnight. Students now attend lectures online and receive up-to-date news from the custom UNIC coronavirus platform.

The University Primary Care Centre, which serves the health care needs of our university community, created an early symptom diagnostic tool in an effort to ease hospital intake and provide live support for the community.

4. Health and safety

Feeling safe, comfortable and staying healthy will be a priority for ongoing study.

Cyprus is ranked as the safest country in the world for people aged 15-29 by the World Health Organization. We encourage a safe and healthy lifestyle through the components of Lifestyle Medicine:

• Stress Reduction
• Physical Activity
• Sleep Health
• Nutrition
• Social Connections
• Avoidance of Risky Substances

Dr. Maria Cecilia Mosquera, a Clinical Associate Professor of Lifestyle Medicine, says "Becoming a medical student in Cyprus will bring you the opportunity to develop yourself into a world-class physician ready to care for your future patients with skill, compassion, and care. But, it is important to remember that you will be your first and most important 'patient.' Focus on your own wellbeing and lifestyle as much as you focus on that of your patients, taking care to nourish yourself, keep your body fit, work to manage stress, foster healthy relationships, have restorative sleep, and avoid risky substances."

Prioritizing human health and wellbeing is an important part of the cyclical impact of health. At UNIC Medical School, our Vision in One Health is to recognize how human health, animal health and the health of the environment are all interconnected.

Medical education, public health and our response have never been more important, so as you continue your journey, we wish you the best of luck and good health!

For more information about UNIC Medical School, you can e-mail us at admissions@med.unic.ac.cy, or visit our website.