Medicine Erasmus Bialystok!!

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Taking advantage of the fact that it is now the time to select Erasmus places within the faculties (I envy you! ), I am going to tell you all about how it was the best experience of my life: my Erasmus in Bialystok. I have fallen in love with this city due to its university atmosphere, the faculty of medicine, it is cheap and for all the memories it has given me.

I study medicine and when I was told about this place, the world fell upon me. Bialystok is not a very well known city and people don't really appreciate it when it comes to Erasmus places. There is no bigger mistake than this, I'm being serious guys! Bialystok is located in the East of Poland and people believe that due to its location it is in the middle of nowhere or it is a bit sh*t because of the cold. Well, in terms of the cold, it is exactly the same throughout the whole of Poland, do not be deceived (you are going to have a lot of snow until March and snow boots and fat coats will not escape anyone). Bialystok has a crazy transport system. For 3 euros (in Poland they have the zloty as their currency) you can take a train that connects you to the whole of Poland (all the way to Szczecin, located on the opposite side of Poland) and including other countries like Germany, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia... Just like a surgeon, we are going to do this in parts.

As I already said, in terms of the transport, there are trains that connect you to the rest of Europe and 24 hours bus and tram services throughout the night so you can return home from a party, it is freaking awesome! You can buy a voucher for 20 euros and you can take as many buses as you like! This type of transport is important because if you think about it, you can visit traditional, cultural cities throughout Poland (Warsaw, Krakow... ) but with the enormous advantage of not living in them, instead you live in a city that is much cheaper and with the same parties that you can find in the bigger ones.

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Partying: Here comes the best bit about Bialystok. You are going to have everything you could wish for. There are an infinite amount of bars, pubs and awesome clubs. To give you some examples you can go to Lozko, M7, Rococo, Alquimia, Drasteiz, Bialystok Club... The Erasmus atmosphere in Bialystok is amazing, there are loads of students from all over the world. You will meet people from Saudi Arabia, Japan, USA, Canada... You will make lots of friends and enjoy yourself so much. Another perfect thing about this place is that you are going to practice your English a lot without realising as the city is very multicultural.

The city is cheap, you can live well with 300 euros a month to cover your travel and rent. I recommend the Delta residence for sure, this is where I stayed, although others have told me that where they lived was also good. You have a gym, laundry room, dining room, your own kitchen, wifi and it is 5 minutes from the faculty of Medicine and 10 minutes from the centre. There are lots of places to eat in the city with student prices to alternate where you eat and if you don't feel like cooking.

Like I already said, another wonderful thing about Bialystok is the faculty of Medicine (above all for those who suffer the sh*t Medicine facilities in Spain, although the other faculties of Bialystok are also good, from what I have heard). The faculty of medicine is the best in Poland (and not many people know it) and it is where I have learnt the most in my life. All of the medic assistants know perfect English so there are no problems when communicating, they explain everything to you really well because the Erasmus students have practicals separately and they ask you to do a thousand things (something that they don't do in other faculties in Poland). You are fixed on my profile picture? The man on the left in the blue pyjamas in the operating theatre is me, hehe. They teach you how to sterilise yourself in the operating theatre and they leave you to get your hands stuck in in the operations and that has never happened to me in Spain. They leave you to suture, to clamp, to help the surgeon and effectively, you are more like a doctor. The anaesthesiologists let you intubate the easy ways, take blood, listen to the heartbeat and the consultation. In short, it is completely different to the boring Spanish practices. This comes into the special features of our career which are essential and important, and I have returned with some skills and a motivation that I did not have here in Spain. I have left the most important thing until last: they pass you with outstanding and good grades for everything. My grades went up by one mark, so now I am looking at getting an MIR (Medical intern residency). I have learnt more from the practicals than my friends from Spain have done, I have improved my grades a lot and I have improved my English. You will not regret checking out Bialystok; ) The faculty is very important, the majority of Poland pass with good grades but there are exceptions like Warsaw. A friend of mine was greatly embittered by his Erasmus year because the faculty demanded too much from him and he regrets it. Except for Warsaw, I think the rest of cities in Poland and Europe are very good.

Enjoy the experience, it is an unrepeatable year and you will enjoy it and you will learn like never before in your life. Whatever doubts you have, please leave me a message on here and I will respond. :)

Bialystok!