Health Minister, Petros Petrides, told state radio yesterday morning that plans to open the medical school were in their final stages and that it would open as planned in September.

“We have already met on many occasions with university officials and spoken to the university’s rector as we are in the closing stages of the school’s opening,” Petrides said.

The minister said any plans to delay opening the school would cause huge problems as many students have already sent their applications and will be sitting exams in the next few days.

“Hospital employees who want to work at the medical school will have to fill out an application if they wish to cooperate with the university and will then be asked to sit an exam,” he added.

Petrides revealed that during a recent visit to the World Health Organisation headquarters in Geneva he was asked by three health ministers from Middle Eastern countries how their students could apply to the medical school.

“Attracting foreign students during these financially difficult times can help the economy,” the Minister said.

In order to attract more foreign students, lessons will be carried out in both English and Greek.

DISY MP Andreas Themistocleous submitted a bill to parliament to postpone plans to set up the medical school and said that Cyprus faced a choice “of either getting real and actually looking at the country’s situation or else – and I’m willing to bet on this – destroying ourselves”.  He said it would cost the state €100 million a year to run, and that the country could not afford it right now.

The Cyprus Medical Association said on Wednesday that despite the crisis, matters of education and health needed to be treated differently and “with more sensitivity”. A medical school would contribute to upgrading the country’s medical practice improving health care provision, the association said.

Source: Cyprus Mail