From Kharkiv to Czechia: Protecting Medical Education and the Future Health Workforce During Armed Conflict

This poster presents a structured first-person case reflection on the disruption and cross-border continuation of medical education during armed conflict. It follows a fee-paying international medical student from India who studied medicine in an English-taught programme at V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, evacuated to Bihar following the escalation of war in February 2022, and subsequently re-entered an English-taught medical programme in Czechia. The experience is examined across academic continuity, recognition of prior learning, cross-border mobility, financing, language access and personal resilience. Five priorities are identified: emergency academic corridors; rapid transcript verification and credit assessment; targeted bridging rather than complete academic restart; financial protection for displaced fee-paying students; and sustained academic, linguistic and psychosocial mentorship. No patient data are used. The poster argues that protecting credible prior learning is a form of health-workforce protection.