I am Thenuk De Costa, a student of St. Joseph’s College Colombo 10, who lives in Pannipitiya, Colombo. I am currently a 1st-year Medical Student at the University of Campania ‘Luigi Vanvitelli’ in Naples, Italy.

I sat for my GCE Advanced level in the year 2021. I had a great passion to become a doctor by profession since my middle childhood. Although I worked my best to achieve my goal of getting into a local medical faculty, I slightly missed the cut-off for the local medical faculty entrance. However, I did not have any plans to renounce my target. I kept searching for foreign medical faculties, and scholarships for medicine in countries especially in Europe to perceive medicine. Upon studying multiple articles and blogs online I got to know that the IMAT examination granted entrance to the government medical colleges in Italy, which actually costs a fraction of the sum of payment most other universities offer. Italy is one of the top countries with the best healthcare Systems in the world, which gives a better guarantee of their medical faculties. However, the IMAT examination is extremely competitive due to the availability of only a few seats in the medical faculties throughout Italy. As I searched for a good class to get prepared for the IMAT, I was overjoyed to find a Sri Lankan institution named SMIT(Study Medicine In Italy) Academy, which was based in Kandy. Upon contacting SMIT Academy my parents and I were able to get all our doubts about the IMAT examination clarified, very clearly. Dr. Viraj Pattapola, who is a doctor, passed out from an Italian medical faculty, conducted classes for the IMAT. All classes commenced online, 5 months prior to the exam which I believe to be an extremely adequate preparation time. Classes were conducted each week. During each class we completed an IMAT model paper and discussed it in detail. All the marks and individual statistics of each person, on each paper, were kept on a good track by the academy, which made it very easy to figure out the areas which needed more attention on the exam. All online portals were managed by SMIT Academy and there were very few work for us to do regarding the ‘online’ part of it. We were advised wisely on how to pick the proper university out of all the universities and were provided with all the necessary instructions and the list of documents for the online registration of the IMAT. I was able to book my exam center in India, New Delhi. The 4-day journey to India was fun and a bit frightening as well as we had the exam in hand, ahead of us. Mr. Charitha of SMIT academy accompanied us to India. He took good care of us and made sure everything was in order prior to the exam. Once we got the results, in exactly one month, I was overjoyed to find myself in the 12th place amongst the top 40 non-EU students who were admitted, out of roughly around 800 students who opted for the University I chose. The next hardest challenge I faced, towards reaching Italy was getting my Visa ready. After all the guidance and support by my parents and by SMIT Academy, I was finally able to get my visa into my hand and reach Naples. Doctor Viraj who practices medicine in Naples too, arranged accommodation for me here. Though finding accommodation in Italy, especially for foreign students is hard, I had nothing to worry about that part.

view from our place

Naples is quite a busy city, but the people here are extremely warm and friendly towards each other. Naples is also a very modern but traditional a place at the same time with complex architecture which is really beautiful and scenic. The food here is extremely authentic and delicious. It has been 3 weeks since I’ve been here and I’ve been able to see quite a few of the iconic places close by. Doctor Viraj guided and helped us with all the documents we had to prepare after we came to Naples. The University is about 15 minutes walking distance from the place where I stay. The University is extremely good. The lectures are clear and the lecturers are very friendly as well. They provide us with the latest content in medical research in a very interesting way in relation to the subjects . There are students from most spheres of the world, and making friends with them is a new experience, where we get to experience a lot of cultures at the same time. I’m extremely looking forward to the years to come.

Group photo with the university students

I would again like to thank Mr. Isuru Pattapola, Mr. Charitha and Doctor Viraj Pattapola of SMIT Academy for all the support and kindness given, which was way more than what was expected. Their service was purely not money-oriented, but was with a pure intention of helping children reach their dreams.

Finally, I would like to thank my parents who stood by me throughout every corner of my life, supporting me to their fullest.

Thank you.

Ciao!