Turku
Size and Location
Turku is a university city in Southwest Finland with a beautiful seaside and a long history. There are around 170 000 inhabitants. The distance between Turku and Helsinki is 165 km; you can easily get to the capital by bus (2.5 hrs) or train (2 hrs). When you arrive, you can either fly to Helsinki or straight to Turku.
Attractions and Specialities
Turku is a vibrant summer city, and Finland’s port to the extraordinary South-western archipelago. There are plenty of museums, and whatever your hobbies might be, you’ll probably find them here. You can go to the movies (Kinopalatsi downtown is a good one), go to an outdoor or indoor theatre, and enjoy classical and pop concerts. On Aurajoki there are several restaurant boats, called “jokilaivat”. Some of them serve food and many work as bars with crowded outdoor tables on sunny days. Turku Castle is a medieval castle where kings and queens once lived, and well worth visiting Another piece of the historical Turku is presented by Luostarinmäki museum Turku has suffered huge fires fire several times the history, and the museum is the only part of the city that survived the most devastating one . It is an old neighbourhood where craftsmen, merchant and peasants once dwelled, it’s a lovely place to take a stroll around in summer.
Transport in Turku
Turku is rather small town, so walking from place to place in the centre is possible. We try to arrange all flats in walking distance from the hospital. Often the best way to move around is by bike. Thus borrowing or renting one might be a good idea. If you’re planning to go little bit further you might also take a city bus that costs 2,50 Euros. The ticket is valid for two hours.
Boarding
We will offer you one warm meal per day. In the hospital area there are several canteens. Lunch is usually basic Finnish homemade food with salad, drink and bread. They always have options for vegetarians too.
Lodging
Accommodation will be arranged in apartments rented out by FiMSIC. The apartments have usually one room with a bathroom and a kitchen. You might have to share a room/ the apartment with another student of the same gender. We’ll provide you with sheets and necessary household equipment. A towel you have to bring yourself. We’ll try to arrange so that all the exchange students’ apartments are close to each others. We can only offer the flat for one calendar month, i.e. only between the first day of the month and the last. If you need accommodation for extra days before or after it’s easiest to book it from Hostel Turku. (http://www.turku.fi/Public/default.aspx?nodeid=8794&culture=en-US&contentlan=2)
Social Program
You won’t get bored in Turku! There will be parties, trips to places near Turku, picnics, sport activities, city tours and much more… And of course you will have a chance to visit traditional Finnish sauna. At the summer time there’ll be also plenty of music events and festivals arranged in Turku. Most of the exchange students come in July and August and in these months we organise social programme every week. If you come during rest of the year, there might be less activities, so it might be a good idea to come to the exchange together with a friend.
In July and August one of the five towns with medical exchange students organizes a weekend with a well planned program. There students from different towns can meet each other, relax and have fun!
In the wintertime we don’t have weekly organized social program, but we usually organize something at least once in a month.
Clinics and research groups
Students are doing their clinical clerkships in the University Hospital of Turku. We offer following clinics in Turku: Anaesthesiology, Cardiology, Dermatology, Ear- Nose- Throat diseases, Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, Gastrosurgery, Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Haematology, Infectious diseases, Nephrology, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Oncology, Ophthalmology, Paediatrics, Paediatric surgery, Plastic Surgery, Radiology, Thorax Surgery, Traumatology, Urology, Vascular surgery.
For research projects, look the IFMSA database for research exchange. (http://www.ifmsa.net/public/searchredb.php)
Insurance and MRSA-test
Every exchange student traveling to Finland needs to show a certificate of valid health insurance. If you did not send it already with your application form, don’t forget to take it with you as you arrive or send it to us in advance.
As soon as you arrive in Turku, you will be guided to MRSA-test, as demanded by our hospital’s hygiene. University Hospital of Turku is VERY strict about MRSA-testing. All students are taken to the test as soon as they arrive to Turku. Before the test is proven to be negative (results take about three working days), students are not allowed to touch the patients or assist in operations etc. You also have to bring a certificate of negative MRSA and VRE test, done in your home country within 4 weeks before the exchange!
Some links
The best way to start planning your trip is to visit these sites:
City info: http://www.turku.fi
Turku Tourist board : http://www.turkutouring.fi
The homepage of Turku University Hospital: www.tyks.fi
Turku Castle: http://www.turku.fi/museo/
Luostarinmäki museum: http://www.turku.fi/museo