Katowice student incident..

[whattupdog6969]

one week ago an international medical student studying in Poland was stabbed to death from Katowice medical school in Poland, I am disappointed that something like this can occur.

[neilc]

this is terrible news....the poor family.

where did you hear about this, and what did it have to do with the school or HMI, if anything?

[whattupdog6969]

the incident happened a few weeks ago, I believe that it was a US citizen or student that was studying in the medicine program there.

[stateofequilibrium]

Goodlord. That's awful! My condolensces to his parents, family and loved ones!

[kmufangs]

Hi all,

when i read the post by whattupdog6969 about this, i jumped online and started looking at the local newspapers.

i found it. the event happened Feb 28 at a local club. for those that read polish follow this link: http://miasta.gazeta.pl/katowice/1,35063,1939614.html

For those that don't read Polish, here is a rough translation of the the first article that appeared:

"A small group of American students, majority of whom were Muslums, from the local medical school gathered at a local club and were enjoying themselves. The students kept to themselves and were having a great time. The were also noted to be frequent customers and never caused any problems, notes the owner of the club.

What happened next no one could predict it would end in tragedy. The 23 year old US born Palestinain origin student, supposedly being intoxicated, bumpped into a girl who was dancing near him. Her partner reacted quickly and sent a few fists at the student. He then asked the student to step outside for a solo dance. It never got to that as a fight errupted. The Polish individual in the struggle pulled out a knife and pushed it toward the students heart. Friends of both sides rushed into the fight which eventually disperssed. Another American student was slighty harmed according to the police.

While the club security was calling the police, the suspect and friends manged to escape from the club. Friends of the 23 year student picked him up, put him in a taxi and drove off to a near by hospital. Unfortnately, even the emergency measure taken, the student passed away.

In the late afternoon hours on Sunday, the general US counsul came to speak to the students. He later meet with the police officials who calmed him and reassured him that this action was not an act of racisim. The police chief also assured him that the best investigators have been placed on this case and they have already came up with a few names of individuals that they want to question.

Currently, a reward of 15,000 zloty (about $4200) has been established by the police and the owner of the club for the caputre of the person. "

There is a picture of the guy on the website. Now there are a few more articels that follow it.

-one states that the students are boycutting the newspaper for reporting incorrect information and stating that the friend was drunk. the newspaper even quotes an unnamed source which told them that the students blood alcohol content was 1.5
-second article is from one individual who is a spokesman for the english students and he again states that there was incorrect information being reported. he also says that this was no accident but a racially provoked action and would like the newspaper to recant what they wrote.


The word is spreading in Poland. I just spoke to my friend and they were informed about it, yesterday. I don't know what to say except be cautious and avoid such situation.

My condolensces to his parents and to all this classmates and to all the people that knew him.

"a sad day in Poland...lets hope it does not repeat"

[whattupdog6969]

well first of all I gotta say thats incredible how you accessed that so quickly.. I was contemplating doing the same thing.. to search for actual text that existed. but that would have been pointless in my case because I would have had no clue how to translate it because it existed in the Polish language... this is amazing because I knew that it had to exist somewhere (text or article on this subject).. well yes thats pretty much what I heard.. it happened at a club.. no idea about those other details ..
my wholehearted condolensces as well..

[mutig25]

This is certainly a tragedy and my condolences to the family. However, to link HMI or the school for that matter to an isolated event in a bar is completely inane.

My God, if this had happened at a bar near Harvard, would you place blame on the school or the recruiting office or expect them to provide a statement to the family for something the student did on their own time...

It's one thing to place blame on an agency or school for poor recruiting tactics or poor education, but to blame them for an event completely outside of their control is ridiculous.

[whattupdog6969]

its not right to directly blame anyone for this incident that is true, but it should be made aware to future applicants and all current students that problems may happen.

[mutig25]

How does this support or not support that Kattowice is a safe or unsafe school, and where are these claims being made by HMI?

I don't have the data on me to support this, but my guess is that Poland as a whole is a heck of a lot safer place to live than most U.S. cities.

I'm not trying to bicker but to find the truth, and as far as instigating something here...well, you started the post, so don't point the finger at me.

Did you think a post like this would not cause a reaction from people, particularly with your comment "Well, I wonder what else is going on at these schools?" How does that not insinuate that HMI and Kattowice are somewhat to blame?

The whole point of this forum is to discuss and debate issues which are relevant to the pursuit of a medical education, so it's really unnecessary for you to tell me to "grow up" simply because my opinions are contrary to yours.

[mutig25]

Okay... I stand corrected. HMI does make the claim that:

"European campuses that are safer, by far, than many colleges in the US."

http://www.hopemedicaleducation.com/...-%20Survey.htm

but I would still agree that this in all probability correct, although I don't have the data to support it, and I still don't see how campus safety has anything to do with an isolated, off-campus event....