Medical students from the University of Cyprus protested outside parliament on Thursday, demanding two changes to a bill that would establish university clinics and university hospitals, as the House Health Committee began examining it article by article.
The students handed committee members a memorandum calling for one lead medical school at each hospital and at least three academic doctors in every university clinic. They said they support passing the bill immediately, but insisted that creating university clinics must come with real guarantees on the quality of teaching, research and healthcare.
They want the bill to reinstate a provision for one lead medical school per hospital, with real responsibility for teaching and research. Under their proposal, that school would be the only body able to set up university and affiliated clinics at the hospital. Partnerships with other medical schools would still be possible where needed to meet specialised teaching needs.
The students argued that this would ensure clinical training is planned as a whole, and that priority in training students would go to the medical school investing in infrastructure and staff at that hospital.
They also want every university clinic to have at least three academic doctors, rather than the one they say the bill provides for. A university clinic cannot rely on a single academic doctor, they argued, if teaching is to continue without interruption and scientific standards and research are to be maintained. Three academic doctors, they said, is the minimum for a clinic to qualify as a university clinic.
The students acknowledged that establishing university clinics has been pending for many years and said the legislative process needs to be completed. But passing the bill would not on its own modernise clinical training, they said, and a reform that only formally recognised university clinics without guaranteeing they are genuinely upgraded would not be enough.
They added that the issue concerns patients as well as universities, since genuine university clinics could help improve care and strengthen medical research.
“Cyprus does not simply need more clinics with a university title,” the memorandum said, calling instead for genuine university clinics and hospitals that live up to their scientific mission and society’s expectations.
The committee’s article-by-article examination follows earlier consultations and amendments to the bill. The two changes the students are seeking are already at the centre of disagreements between the parties involved and are expected to feature in the debate in parliament.
