UB students will go to Hungary beginning in the spring 1996 semester

The exchange program is a joint venture with the Hungarian Medical Association of America, headquartered in Buffalo.

"The Hungarian medical community was very interested in establishing relationships with American schools," said John Feather, project co-director.

"Such arrangements were hard to hold together during the Communist era, and it was clear from the start they wanted to establish a formal on-going relationship. The Hungarian Medical Association of America acted as liaison with the four Hungarian schools and was critical to the success of the organizing effort."

Irene L. Krisztinicz, a radiologist and past president of the organization, said the effort finally came to fruition after a year and a half of hard work.

"We wanted to do something to help our young physicians improve their skills and widen their experience. U.S. medical techniques, skills and teaching are excellent. Our students will come away with a much broader view of medical possibilities."

The schools involved in the exchange are located in Szeged, Debrecen, PÚcs and Budapest. Each will send up to five students to UB for elective courses lasting one to three months.

Only fourth-year medical students will be eligible for the exchange. Housing in dormitories and meals in university dining facilities will be provided free of charge in both countries.

Dennis Nadler, associate dean for academic and curricular affairs at the UB medical school and co-coordinator of the program, said the exchange will be valuable for everyone.

"For the Hungarians, it's a chance to see how medicine is practiced in the U.S. Their facilities, especially in the major cities, are quite modern, but we have some facilities that are more advanced than they are accustomed to," Nadler said. "For example, their transplant units are up-to-date, but their ambulatory settings are not as well-developed.

"For our students, the cultural experience is a real plus. It also offers the opportunity to study some fields in more depth than we do here. Anatomical pathology is an example. Hungarian students assist in several autopsies a week because nearly every death there results in autopsy. Opportunities for our students to do autopsies are rare."

American students will experience striking differences in medical practice between the two countries.

"Because physicians there are relatively low paid, they do a lot of things physicians here never do, including making their own appointments," Feather said. "That will give our students a new perspective."

Other differences include modern health facilities concentrated in the cities while remote areas may be lucky to have even basic equipment, anesthesiologists in charge of intensive care and a universal organ- donor program. "Unless you specifically refuse," Nadler noted, "you are considered a donor."

The payment system also is unusual. Hungarian physicians earn much of their livelihood through tips. The upshot is a reversal of the U.S. norm: Hungarian family physicians make more money than subspecialists because they see more patients directly.

Interest in international health is keen among UB medical students, Feather said. The UB medical school operates a formal exchange program with China, but students wishing to study elsewhere have had to find their own placements in the past.