Pleven, December 2, 2016
On December 2 2016 the graduates from the Medical University (MU) in Pleven received their diplomas at a special ceremony. Part of the events in connection with the ceremony were the premiere of the short film “Reverse your vision” and presenting photos from the exhibition under the same name. The event was attended by the Mayor of Pleven Georg Spartanski, who delivered an emotional welcoming speech, representatives of the media, mentors and other university professors, students. The reason for holding the event was the successful graduation of six young Roma medical doctors.
The bottom line: This year six young medical doctors form the Roma community graduated at the MU-Pleven, as one of them is third in her class and is already specializing in a leading cardiology clinic in Sofia. One young Roma doctor graduated in Varna, another one – in Sofia. Next year and the one after that a new cohort of young Roma doctors will be graduating in Sofia.
The newly-graduated, specializing and working in different fields of medicine Roma are over 200 – nurses, midwives, lab workers, next year there will be two pharmacists, there is already a specialist in dental medicine. From the 200 graduated only two are abroad, the others are trying to make a career here – they are a part of the people who treat us and take care of our health.
The travelling exhibition “Reverse your vision” marked the graduation – it was presented during summer at the “Crystal” garden in Sofia. The photos in the exhibition present the students and their mentors in a retro black and white aspect, first upside down, then reversed at a 180 degrees – the same way the brain reverses everything perceived by the eyes. The challenge is for everyone to reverse their perception, not to be lead by prejudice and stereotypes, but to open their senses. The short video at the end of the text speaks louder than any other arguments. All those young people have been admitted to study medicine without preferential quotas. They are part of the Scholarship program by the Open Society Foundation and the Roma Educational Fund. The mentorship component supports their development, and part of the mentors come from the BFPA team – prof. Yuliana Marinova in Stara Zagora, Dr. Radosveta Stamenkova in Sofia, Dr. Krassimir Romanov in Pleven. Godspeed, young colleagues!