My Experience Series: My Journey To Med School,a dream come true

Well,my name is ifeoma and my family is based in abuja. I am the first
child amongst six children. I'm an introverted person who loves to
chill at home with a nice movie or a good book. I love cooking and
lending a helping hand to those in need;the reason am training to be a
doctor,am in my third year in medical school.

I have always wanted to study medicine(the desire stems from something
personal). I obtained my first degree in one of the basic medical
sciences,physiotherapy precisely,from a nigerian university in the
south south. After that,I was faced with the option of either going
for an Msc or go in for medicine,but it was a difficult choice to make
cos medicine would take another 5-6 years,so I decided to go for my
NYSC to give me a year to ponder on which choice to make between
taking an MSc in physiotherapy or go for a course in medicine from the
scratch. I took it to the lord in prayers and I was later posted to
the sports ministry for my place of primary assignment(PPA).

During my service year,I was opportune to work closely with
physiotherapists and doctors alike,which afforded me a
first hand knowledge of their job descriptions. They were really
helpful in answering most of my questions,and also provided
information when needed,it was an amazing experience.

I later made up my mind to study medicine and started searching for
schools abroad that I could apply to. It was really stressful trying
to get into schools in the US and UK because one had to take an exam
and it wasn't easy applying as a foreign student. I really wasn't
ready to pass through such stress, so I decided to look for a european
medical school. I finally found one located in Hungary which had
everything I needed;great accreditation and affiliation, opportunity
of taking the
united state medical licensing examination(USMLE),cheaper costs,etc.

I started my applications which went smoothly,sat for the entrance
interview and got the admission. After that,other preparations were
quite easy and fast. I went for my visa interview and that was where
I had a little delay.

As at the time of the interview,the Hungarian embassy in Nigeria was
closed due to the spate of kidnapping of foreign nationals in nigeria
around that period, so the agency I was using had to bring the
consular to Nigeria for the interview; it was either that or I would
have to go to a nearby country for the interview. Well,the consular
came,conducted the interview and took our
passports with her; the passports were to be sent back to us via
courier.

Due to some issues,I got my passport back really late; like 6
weeks later than when I was supposed to have resumed school. Due to
the delay,I didn't have time to prepare as I had to book my flight and
leave a day after i got my passport back. Prior to that,I had made
necessary arrangements for accommodation and transportation(these were
part of the visa application requirements),so my journey was a fairly
smooth and easy one.

I had a connecting flight from Frankfurt,Germany. I travelled
alone,and with my hungarian visa, I didn't need to get a transit visa
for Germany because they are both members of european
union. My flight was quite uneventful as i promptly fell asleep
immediately after take off;Abuja to Frankfurt is about 6 hours.  I had
two hours transit time before boarding the next plane to my
destination after landing in frankfurt, but due to the fact that the
airport is a really large and busy one,it took a while for me to
locate my boarding gate.

From Frankfurt to Budapest,which is the capital city of Hungary,is
about 2 hours. When i got to Budapest,I had airport pick up already
waiting for me,it was nice cos it was my first time in the country and
i knew nobody there. At the airport,I also met two other students(non
nigerians) who were also resuming and they were also using the same
pick up company as i was,so we all travelled to Debrecen,the city
where the school is located. When i got to the student hostel,I met a
nigerian who helped me with my accommodation check in. She was really
nice to me and we became friends. She helped me adjust to the
environment as she immediately took me to her room where she helped me
call my parents back home who were eager to learn about how my
journey went,and how i was settling in. The next day,Mary(my new
friend) took me to the education office where I did my registration
and got my class schedules and health sheet for medical check up and
tests. After that,we went to the city centre where I was able to get
a phone contract.

I quickly settled down to academic life,and I must say life as a
medical student has been an hectic one, but am coping. On the
average,I have classes from 8am till 6pm, with 3 hours break in
between. My anatomy practice classes were not anything out of the
ordinary cos back in my school in Nigeria,I had already become used to
seeing
cadavers,the only difference being that they have more cadavers here
and better learning environment. My autopsy classes on the other hand
are quite interesting,it's one class I always look forward to cos I
see myself going into forensic medicine some day. We would start
surgery in part 4,looking forward to that too.

We are also made to take language lessons here cos english is not
their official language though we are being taught in english,so I
like to think am multi lingual now..lol. At first when I got here,I
missed my family so much but as days went on,after surviving on chips
and chicken,I started missing nigerian food more..lol. The food here
have a high salt and fat content so I really had to do some major
adjusting like making my food by myself.

Well,it's three years now that I have been in Hungary,and it has been
an amazing journey,with many highs and lows. I'm grateful to God and
my parents for making my journey to med school. possible.

Let me conclude by expressing my happiness in maygar(the official
language in Hungary),"Boldog vagyok, hogy az álmom, hogy orvos
hamarosan valóra válik" which when translated into english means "am
happy my dream of becoming a doctor is about to come true".