Jason Sparks, assistant professor at the Department of Anatomy, traveled to South America on a recruitment tour in late February and early March with Krisztina Bánáti-Riszt, international relations coordinator of the UP International Recruitment Office. In Colombia, they participated in the "EXPO Posgrados - Expo Estudiante 2022", a student recruitment fair with several stops, and then traveled to Ecuador, promoting UP's training in eight high schools. During their two-week stay, they obtained the email addresses of nearly 450 potential applicants and met several promising candidates. Their aim was to contribute to increasing the number of students from South America.
Written by Rita Schweier
"I could represent the School in South America because I have been participating in the recruitment program since my third year, helping high school students with biology at weekend high school preparatory courses, and instructing and teaching at the camps. I was also present at the Educatio International Education Fair in January, where I gave presentations to high school students from all over the country.
The latter was also a very appropriate activity for me; I enjoyed it. So, I have been in touch with high school students for a long time, and now I had the chance to try myself at the international level," says Jason Sparks, explaining why he was chosen for this task.
He says he did not have any difficulty making contacts in South America, even though the continent is very different from ours, with a different economic and social background. Colombia and Ecuador are both very poor countries where only the children of wealthy families can go to university. Three international fairs were held in Colombia: in Bogota, the capital of Colombia, and Cali and Medellin. Higher education institutions from all over the world were invited, but only the University of Pécs was present from Central and Eastern Europe.
Jason and Krisztina told the students about the education system in Hungary and Pécs and that tuition fees are much lower than in Western Europe. In Ecuador, they visited eight secondary schools where students must pay high tuition fees. In his experience, young people are well-trained and speak English well. They also met representatives of the Hungarian embassies who told them that higher education is very expensive in both Colombia and Ecuador and that it is, therefore, more worthwhile for parents to send their children abroad.
Their keywords for attracting students to Pécs were the relatively low tuition fees and cost of living compared to Western European and American universities, the international atmosphere, the strong, trilingual training and theoretical knowledge that provides an excellent basis for clinical studies, and the practice- and patient-oriented dental education. Their presentation emphasized that cadaver dissection is still an integral part of anatomy training, unlike in some Western European universities where it is not part of the training anymore.
According to Jason Sparks, the South Americans were surprised that Pécs was presented as a big city - by Hungarian standards - because their capital city has ten million residents, and the rest of their cities are also populated by millions of people. Students may have found the short distances and how easily they can travel from one place to another advantageous. They may also have thought that the fact that they can be close to nature here (e.g., Mecsek and Orfű) is an advantage. The only things they might miss are goats and llamas, of which they have plenty.
"They were very impressed by the international environment, the fact that mostly foreign students study here, the amount of tuition fees, and our scholarship programs. Winning the Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship can be a big advantage, but it is worth applying to our university even without it. The high level of English knowledge among the requirements scared them, but we offered a solution to that too by offering our English language preparation programs," says Jason, adding that besides general medicine, biotechnology was also popular; these two fields received great interest.
Currently, around 30 South American students are studying at UP, and Jason Sparks hopes that the recruitment tour will attract even more candidates in the next academic year. Alumni students helped the recruitment process by accompanying Jason and Krisztina to Colombia and Ecuador. Their reports were very enthusiastic about the great student life, the variety of programs, public safety, the possibility to come and go alone at night, the excellent English-speaking teaching staff at the university, and the high quality of the courses.
In connection with the learning environment, they emphasized the importance of the libraries - both at the university and the medical school - as significant bases for deepening knowledge. They fondly remembered their fellow students and the excellent relationship they had with the teachers, which had a great impact on their daily lives. They also appreciated the diploma they obtained here, which they could get accredited easily in their home country and could quickly find a job. As it turned out, one of the alumni students would like to return to Pécs to work as an international teacher, which is also a great reference for our university.
Jason Sparks also spoke proudly of the recent and ongoing investments - the new theoretical building and the Dental Education Centre, the Simulation Education Centre, and the Preclinical Research Laboratory - making Pécs the most modern campus in the country.
He jokingly added that the lack of green bananas should not be a problem for South Americans to study here because the product is already available in certain chain stores in Hungary. It is well-known that this type of banana is an integral part of their diet.
"I met very kind, good-hearted, joyful, and smart high school students who are grateful to be able to continue their studies. These young people will appreciate getting admitted to a university and will do whatever it takes to stay there," Jason said, summing up his experience.