{"id":44735,"date":"2025-05-22T06:00:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T04:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/?p=44735"},"modified":"2025-07-16T12:32:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T10:32:24","slug":"knowledge-and-perseverance-semmelweis-hosts-2025-international-alumni-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/semmelweis.hu\/english\/2025\/05\/knowledge-and-perseverance-semmelweis-hosts-2025-international-alumni-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge and perseverance \u2013 Semmelweis hosts 2025 International Alumni Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
Alumni from around 30 countries worldwide attended the International Alumni Meeting<\/a> of Semmelweis University on May 17-18. The event attracted nearly 300 guests, who first gathered in the university’s main building for a roundtable discussion before visiting iconic university locations and sights of Budapest over the weekend.<\/div>\n

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“At first, it was like being thrown into cold water. But it shaped us in a good way. We received a thorough education that enables us to take a very good position anywhere in the world,” Dr. Alp\u00e1r Al\u00e1n quoted one of the heads of the German students’ association, Deutschsprachige Studentenvertretung Semmelweis (DSVS). The vice-rector for international studies noted in his welcome address that the application for the English and German-language programs was currently open. In this context, an increasing number of motivation letters are being received which reveal that a relative, either one or both parents of the applicant, graduated from Semmelweis University.<\/p>\n

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So we asked ourselves what the university had to offer that made our former students send their offspring back after so many years. Based upon your feedback, two things: knowledge and perseverance.
\n\u2013 Dr. Al\u00e1n Alp\u00e1r<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

As a result, the vice-rector added, those present were practicing one of the most sacred vocations: they were all working for patients, many of them in the world’s most prestigious universities. Of course, students were just as much a part of the success, taking the risk to come and study in a foreign country in the changing world of the 1980s. Some of them stayed here, while others returned home and took a small piece of Semmelweis University with them to many parts of the world. “It is lovely to educate our students in the most sensitive period of their lives, which not only leaves impressions in their minds, but also their hearts,” said Dr. Al\u00e1n Alp\u00e1r. He concluded by welcoming the audience in German and recalling his experiences as a research fellow at the University of Leipzig, referencing his supervisor, Professor Thomas Arendt, about the difficulties of conducting research: \u201cIs it feasible? If yes, then do it!”<\/p>\n\r\n [slb_exclude]\r\n

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The meeting continued with a roundtable discussion reminiscing and presenting plans, moderated by Dr. Tam\u00e1s Heged\u00fcs, Head of the Alumni Directorate. In the panel session, three Semmelweis alumni shared their insights: Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Periodontology, a key player in the international training program<\/a> and Program Director of the Dental Training Program; Vice-Rector Dr. Al\u00e1n Alp\u00e1r; and UK-based pediatrician Dr. Loucas Christodoulou<\/a>. “At this meeting, we can come back to our roots and meet old friends. For me, just being able to meet a former classmate at the entrance was worth the trip,” said Dr. Loucas Christodoulou, who believes that “the more we suffer together, the closer we become.” That is why it is a priority for him as an alumnus to try and give back to his university community<\/a> for all he received during his years here.<\/p>\n

Dr. Istv\u00e1n Gera recalled the start of the foreign-language program – the “Stone Age”, as he called it in his personal report, talking about the initial challenges and the familial atmosphere of the first cohorts. He also paid special tribute to his colleagues who played a pivotal role in launching the English and German-language programs, especially the late Professors Anna K\u00e1d\u00e1r<\/a> and Attila Fony\u00f3<\/a>. Among the motivations behind starting a bi-national off-site training at Asklepios Campus Hamburg<\/a> 17 years ago, Dr. Al\u00e1n Alp\u00e1r highlighted the intention of presenting the mentality of Semmelweis University abroad. The participants recalled the feeling of living in an era before mobile phones and the internet, which sometimes required inventiveness and cultural sensitivity when arriving in an unfamiliar city but could also lead to unexpected encounters. The second part of the roundtable gave an overview of the state of play, focusing on the international training, the shifting student trends, the coordination of diverse educational needs, plans for the future, and the community-led funding of medical education<\/a>.<\/p>\n