TWO UKRAINIAN medical students have thanked Worcestershire Royal Hospital for helping them continue their education.
Tabia Alym and Jasmine Abulaban, both 25, were provided with last-minute clinical placements after they could no longer train as part of their medical degrees at the Dnipro Medical Institute.
Jasmine said: “I was really lucky to leave Ukraine just a few days before the war started, but a lot of our friends really struggled to leave.
“I managed to get home to Israel, but I was really stressed about the situation, and whether we would be able to carry on our studies, it was one of the hardest times of my life.”
Dnipro, where Tabia and Jasmine lived until the Russian invasion, is located close to the frontline of the conflict and has been hit by a number of missile strikes since the war began.
At vital stages in their education, they feared they would be unable to continue their studies until the Undergraduate Academy at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust agreed to accept the pair for a month-long placement.
With the placement now coming to an end, Undergraduate Co-ordinator at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Norah Howell, said that the clinical staff in different departments found the two girls a pleasure to work with.
Tabia added: “Worcestershire Royal Hospital not only accepted us to do our core rotations but also provided us with accommodation and open support.
“Having been through a tumultuous few months, the kindness extended to us is something we are unable to express and will never forget.”
Following their placement in Worcestershire, Tabia and Jasmine were able to go on to other postings within the NHS to continue their clinical education.