Practical training in Bulgaria
I was placed in a private hospital Acibadem City Clinic Hospital “Tokuda”. There was also another student who was from France, and we were placed in the same departments. The start of the internship was a little shock maybe. We were at gynecological surgery ward, and although everyone was nice to us, we didn’t do anything in there. It was like we are not even there, maybe it was that nurses didn’t talk a lot of English, and also there was a mix up and the head nurse of the hospital thought we were midwife students, which was why we were placed there. We were there only for one week, and next we went to orthopedic surgical ward. Things got a little better there, depending the day. There our participation in the patients care was really depentant on how much the nurses spoke English. There wasn’t much to do, and same things everyday: changing dressings, taking ECG and allergy tests, and then taking patient down to the operating theatre. There was a lot of paperwork where we couldn’t really participate.
We spent 3 weeks at the orthopedic ward, and after a lucky coincidence we ended up doing the rest of our traineeship in the oprating theatre. We made friends with one anesthesiologist, and she invited us there, and ended up taking care of us and guiding us the whole time we were there. We learnt so much, and we were able to participate in everything that the anesthesiologist nurses did, and eventually did a lot of things independently. We were able to practice our clinical skills, like putting on cannula, iv. medications and fluids, monitoring patients, assisting doctors and much more. I can highly recommend the place if you ever get a possibility to go there.
My spare time in Bulgaria
Even though I was scared before going that I wouldn’t find any friends there, I did. Other student from the hospital was first person I got to know there. There is a lot of events that the ESN community organices, and it is a great way to meet people. Trough these events I also made other friends. Most of my free time I spent going to these events together, or travelling to other countries. Bulgarias location is great, you can travel to many places by bus, and plane tickets are very cheap to many destinations. Sofia is also a very lively city, there is lots of events. My favorite thing to do was different bazaars, that were held there almost every week.
Comparing the studies and working culture in Bulgaria with studying or working in Finland
I can’t tell much about studies in Bulgaria, since I only had the internship. I think overall working in the health care field is a little different. Bulgaria doesn’t seem to have practical nurses, or caregivers of whatever is the right translation to a Finnish lähihoitaja position. Nurses do everything in the hospital. Nursing studies last a little longer than in Finland, 4 years, but still based on what I see their knowledge is not always the best or most updated. Especially in the wards, I saw so many problems with hygiene, and many things were done a little differently than in Finland, and some things were little outdated.
Maybe the most significant difference is the job situation overall. In Finland right now there is not enough jobs, not even for nurses, but in Bulgaria the situation is complete opposite. There is shortage of nurses everywhere. Also the salaries are so different. In Finland nursing is considered a low paid job. In Bulgaria, wage is even lower. What I talked with nurses there, they make maybe 900 euros a month, depending a little bit where you work. Bulgaria is a very poor country and it shows, especially in people’s wages. Living costs in Bulgaria are also increasing, especially when they changed to euros in 2026. I am still wondering how the locals manage to get by with that little money.
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