Cyprus is only EU country without a university hospital

Cyprus is the only EU country without a university hospital despite the fact there are three medical schools in the country, University of Cyprus’ medical school professor of neurology Georgios Hadjigeorgiou said on Friday.

Meanwhile, doctors’ unions are concerned a university hospital may threaten their jobs by edging out established doctors, state doctors’ union (Pasyki) boss Sotiris Koumas highlighted.

“It’s quite a paradox to have three medical schools and no legislation for a university hospital.  The institutional framework does not allow us to offer the training and education that students really need,” Hadjigeorgiou said.

Ironically, most doctors currently working received their training in university hospitals, he added.

“Wanting to ensure we don’t lose our jobs is not a bad thing,” Koumas said on state radio. “If academics come in and run university clinics, of course this is going to affect us.”

Α bill set to establish a university hospital has been discussed at a committee level for two years but sent back to the ministry for revisions.

“If a hospital has 1,500 beds and 200 go to academic doctors, this means a reduction in the number of existing medical staff,” Koumas said, suggesting universities can build their own hospital, leaving state doctors unaffected.

For the University of Cyprus, the medical school mandates doctors receive their training in public hospitals, Hadjigeorgiou said.

Last time the matter was discussed at the House health committee, Diko MP, Chrysanthos Savvides pointed out that although many students are admitted to the University of Cyprus, many choose to study in Greece, due to the lack of Cypriot medical university clinics.

Students who do study Cyprus, also eventually end up having to go abroad for the same reason. “Medicine is not a theoretical study,” Savvides said.