site.btaBulgarian News Agency and Medical University Sofia Sign Partnership Agreement

The Bulgarian News Agency (BTA) and the Medical University in Sofia signed a partnership agreement at the BTA National Press Club in Sofia on Friday. The document was signed by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev and the Rector of the Medical University Sofia, Prof. Boycho Landzhov. This is the 43rd agreement signed by BTA with Bulgarian higher education institutionsр and the Agency plans to have partnership agreements with all 51 higher education institutions in the country by the end of the year.

BTA Director General Kiril Valchev expressed hope that the cooperation will contribute to the development of medical journalism in Bulgaria. “We hope to find a student in your Faculty of Public Health who will decide to devote himself to journalism, because Bulgaria needs competent medical and health journalists,” said Valchev.

He also said that BTA published the first news about the University on May 29, 1950, when the Presidium of the National Assembly decided that the Faculty of Medicine at Sofia University would become a separate higher education institution. Valchev added that the Sofia University's Faculty of Medicine was founded in 1917, and the Medical University in Sofia will celebrate its 110th anniversary in 2027. He presented Prof. Landzhev with a copy of the publication.

Valchev underscored that BTA has traditionally covered events at the Medical University Sofia, but coverage of its activities in recent years increased substantially after the launch of the LIK section dedicated to knowledge, culture and education. "Since the beginning of the year, when we started discussing the partnership agreement, we have 26 articles, and we also have eight in English. You are among Bulgaria’s brand names, which should be presented abroad," he added.

Valchev emphasized the international authority of the University. “According to the data that we collected with the help of the Education and Science Ministry, 16,995 foreign students are studying in Bulgaria, including many from the European Union. There are 3,277 from Greece, 1,532 from Germany, 990 from Italy, and 2,235 from the UK. There are 3,470 foreign students at your university. This is almost a quarter of all foreign students in Bulgaria, and 2,116 of them are from EU countries,” he added.

According to information provided by the higher education institution, students from 72 countries from 5 continents – Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America – are studying at the University in the three main specialties: medicine, dentistry and pharmacy, Valchev said.

The BTA Director General added that, according to the Agency's Reference Library, “it is particularly impressive that 74.3% of young doctors studying at the University declare that they want to stay in Bulgaria.”

Prof. Landzhov stressed the importance of the University’s cooperation with BTA in supporting and promoting its educational and scientific activities not only nationally, but also globally, as well as promoting activities related to medical universities, medical education and scientific research.

"With this initiative, with this agreement, we will strengthen our position on an international basis, we will strengthen mobility, we will support interdisciplinary research, we will promote innovation. I can boldly say that the Medical University is a leader in this regard," Landzhov added.

He expressed the hope that the signing of this agreement would lay the foundations for a long-term cooperation that would be beneficial not only for the two institutions, but for Bulgarian society as a whole.

Valchev added that one of the goals is to make Bulgarian science visible. "It is not easy to tell the audience about scientific achievement in specific areas in an understandable manner. That is why we will rely on your students to help us," Valchev said. He emphasized that news about medical education and scientific activities of the Medical University will be promoted by BTA’s press clubs abroad, where there are large Bulgarian communities, as well as through partnerships with foreign news agencies around the world.

The BTA Director General presented the Rector of the Medical University Sofia with copies of articles on and photographs from events at the University’s Faculty of Medicine covered by BTA, as well as the jubilee medal and postage stamp marking BTA’s 125th anniversary two years ago.