Daria Pedchenko, a third-level (educational and scientific) higher education seeker, shares her impressions of participating in the Erasmus+ program with us

Erasmus+ is a program that truly changes lives. It opens up a unique opportunity for students to travel, live for a semester or a year in another country, and simultaneously study at a foreign university.

I am very pleased to share my own experience of participating in academic mobility. In the fall semester of 2024, I studied under the exchange program at the University of Seville, at the Department of Maxillofacial Surgery. Together with residents from different cities and countries, we discussed complex clinical cases every day at morning meetings, worked in operating rooms with modern equipment, and mastered the latest surgical techniques.

Thanks to the friendly attitude of the team and the head of the department, I was able not only to study theory, but also to practice directly in the operating room, exchanging experience with colleagues.

During my internship, I was engaged not only in practical surgery, but also joined scientific activities – together with the head of the residency, we prepared and published several articles in specialized publications of category A. (https://www.revistacirugiaoralymaxilofacial.es/therapeutic-management-of-a-severe-maxillofacial-defect-after-landmine-fragmentation921)

Among the difficulties were finding housing, orientation in the city (the first days I could not do without Google Maps), adapting to the new style of learning in Spanish, finding friends. The first month was really difficult, but now I remember this period as an exciting adventure. It turns out that when you are left alone in a new city, that is when real inner strength is formed.

Seville impressed with its architecture and atmosphere – many Gothic churches, cathedrals, green parks and cozy streets that you want to explore for hours. If you wish, you can easily travel to other cities, discovering new corners of Spain.

Erasmus+ is first and foremost about people. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to spend a semester with such wonderful people and make new friends. I sincerely recommend that every student take the chance to study abroad and experience all the benefits of academic mobility.

Therapeutic management of a severe maxillofacial defect after landmine fragmentation