Sixth year RSU medical student from Germany: "ISA creates a big family of students abroad"

Leonard George is a sixth year medical student from Hamburg, Germany, who has been active in the International Students‘ Association (ISA) for a number of years. His main area of activity in the association was assisting students with academic issues. Leonard also shares his views on his own experience while studying Medicine at RSU.

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Leonard George (front row, first on right) with his fellow RSU medical students. Photo from personal archive.

Let’s start with your involvement in the International Students’ Association (ISA). What is your view on what ISA stands for?

The ISA was founded to bring the international students as a community closer together and make sure that the  international students can interact with each other outside their groups, hold joint events and create a big family of students abroad, as we all basically share the same thing. We are going to be away from home for quite a long time, so it's nice to have a community of international students and people who organise activities for them. So the initiative is there and students are invited to participate in events which go beyond just going to classes, lectures, sitting exams.

Do you think international students at RSU are active in voicing their opinions and how does ISA get involved in this process?

We always have to consider that if only one student has a problem in a course, it might not be the general opinion. But if there are many people from different groups who have the same problem then usually we get involved.

It's very important that at ISA we keep an overview of how things have been progressing over time and in my last two years I've seen that in some semesters in Dentistry and Medicine, the same problem comes up every single semester by the prospective semester that has this certain course, teacher or exam...this is when the association has to get involved and make sure that things are discussed and followed up after, not only when the exam has passed, the topic is finished and closed.

Are there other ways that you see that ISA has contributed to the well-being of students?

ISA has been actively involved, together with the RSU International Department, in running Orientation Week for the international students and being and active part of it, which is always important – to see a face associated with a certain title in ISA, so you will know who to contact if you have any issues.

The students need to be reassured. It's scary, they've come to a new place, they are quite young, they have never lived by themselves or travelled this far, so I think it's nice to be told that it's not as bad as you expect, you will be fine if you dedicate yourself enough.

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Leonard George (front row, first left), with International Students' Association and Latvian Student Union (SP) representatives. Photo from personal archive.

Do ISA hold seminars that are helpful to students regarding study techniques, or academic writing?

Last semester, the Medical Science Director at ISA conducted a seminar for first semester students on how to focus on studies, how to study anatomy, because it's a different type of studying that you have to do and the amount ­is not comparable to what most people are used to and they mostly come here straight from school. It's really nice to hear from somebody who has been through that, so students realise – if I dedicate my time I will get the reward by passing my colloquiums and actually gaining knowledge.

How do students find the workload?

In medical studies, the third and fourth semester contain the most amount of materials, and colloquiums that hit students all at once. But it's still not overwhelmingly too much, that students couldn't deal with it, especially if they completed the first two semesters. It's like this curve which slowly goes up from 1st semester until the 4th semester with the amount of studies you have to do, and your study techniques gradually improve at the same time.

Is the Head of Academic Affairs position at ISA meant to be basically helping people with problems that may arise during the study process, or do you also come up with new suggestions for the university?

We try to see what is missing and what can be added. Recently we talked about a rescuscitation course, for example, and how certification in such a course would bring students here to a different level if the university officials would be willing to help organise it for their students. We also organise events where, for example, we practice suturing or we do radiological seminars where students can improve their knowledge in this area.

Especially now there has been a lot of talk about how the course of studies here is going to change in the next few years about compressing the six years of lessons here into five so it might be possible to have a practical last year which is very common in Europe nowadays, where students practically experience what it is like to be a junior doctor, by following doctors, by assisting in operations and just by doing a lot of practical work.

Everybody would like to have more practical training and that also touches back on the students voicing their opinions.. This is also where we need the help of the students because the more input we have from other countries, from other universities on how to do this, how to change the study process here, how to make the whole study process more practical.

I think the university can take more advantage of the multinationality that is present here. We have students from so many different countries and there could be so many collaborations with different universities because everybody has friends in their own country who probably also study medicine or know somebody. I think for internationalisation that this networking is just incredibly important nowadays.

Turning to you personally – what initially prompted you to get involved in ISA?

We actually formed a group of people from my semester and we decided to run for positions in the ISA. I think we all got involved because we just wanted to be more active in our student lives. We had more time when we entered the clinics and we thought we had a lot to give.

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Portrait from personal archive.

And how did you initially find out about medical studies at RSU?

Very simple, just looking on the internet – where to study abroad. I found this option, I discovered you can study in English and I really liked the idea of that and so I applied.

And you have also chosen to complete the full study programme here.

I never went back to Germany. I never felt I needed to go back. I felt like my place was here, at least for my studies. I thought – if I can manage here for the first two years then why make a cut and go somewhere else if I can just stay here longer, get to know more about this country and the people.   

How have you felt studying here at RSU?

I think at first for me it was a struggle as well, it was the exact same struggle as is to be expected.

Was this your first time away from home?

No, I've been travelling quite a lot, during my school years. But especially in the first three semesters it was quite intense – to find the rhythm of studying and I was very lucky to have my study group, which helped me a lot and I also encourage students as much as I can in Orientation Week to see your study group as your small Riga family because if you take care of each other in the study group and if you teach each other subjects which you're not that good at, then it just works out really nicely and everybody benefits.

This study group – did you form it yourselves or are you allocated people?

The university does that for you. I think you can choose if you want to be in an internationally mixed group or more with one nationality. If you know somebody who's starting with you, you can suggest a name.

My study group helped me to grown personally and now, eleven semesters later I feel I have a very strict routine on how to study, prepare for exams, The level of anxiousness before exams has dramatically decreased in the last couple of years because you know that with a certain amount of effort you are going to be fine. It gives you a lot more confidence in what your brain has read before. Many people stress out a lot before exams, saying I don't remember this and this. But having this calm approach - "I know I have studied and read enough, I know enough to pass the exam". It takes some time to be this calm. It comes from experience.

Have you had many opportunities to meet local Latvians?

At the beginning of my studies – definitely not but after the fifth, sixth semester, it's possible to go to a mixed group (of Latvians and international students, with studies in English). I switched over and I think it's the best decision I made at this university so far because you learn a lot about how Latvians think and how they have to undertake studies. Their view on studies is so different. Especially in clinics, it's really nice to be in a group with Latvians, so you team up with a Latvian and you go interview a patient and you understand everything, you just pick up phrases and you just gradually understand more. In the mixed group, you couldn't even differentiate anymore between who is Latvian and who is international, because we get along really well.

Do you think that international students are helping to change Latvia?

Absolutely! I believe international students are such a valuable thing to this country because we bring our own cultures here, we form national societies [at the university] and I think people here realise that it's beneficial for everyone to have contacts outside their country.

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Leonard George in his Jui Jitsu gi (uniform). Photo from personal archive.

Most students develop a way to relax and unwind after studying. What is your preferred way of spending your spare time and how does it help you take your mind off studies?

A little over 3 years ago I started training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu here in Riga which provides an incredible way to work out and take your mind off studies. As soon as I step on the mat, I leave all thoughts about studying or exams behind me for a while, which is extremely valuable.

What do you plan to do after your studies here?

I will finish my studies in June, if everything goes according to plan, and right after that I'll move back to Germany, probably. The only thing I know for sure is that I want to go into residency for orthopedics and traumatology and I'm not sure where life will take me.

Somewhere in Europe or elsewhere else in the world?

We'll see what options I have. I would like to work in different places, that's for sure. I want to do my residency not only in one place but I want to see more of how different healthcare systems work. I want to just be really good at what I do and have the experience from a lot of different places.