It started behind the counter
My story really begins during my years in high school, when COVID changed almost everything around me. At the time, my father ran a fast-food restaurant, and I used to work there alongside school. It wasn't anything glamorous. I would go to class, and whenever I had the time, I would help out at the restaurant. I served customers, cleaned, prepared food, and did whatever needed to be done. For me, it was more than just a part-time job. It was my first real experience of what it meant to work hard and take responsibility. I got to see firsthand what running a business actually looked like — not from a textbook, but from behind the counter. Then COVID hit.
COVID changed everything
The pandemic affected us heavily. Restaurants were among the businesses that felt the restrictions almost immediately. Suddenly, the normal flow of customers disappeared, uncertainty became part of everyday life, and something my family had worked hard to build was under pressure from circumstances completely outside our control. At the same time, I was still trying to get through high school. It was a strange period of my life. While other parts of the world seemed to stop, the responsibilities at home didn't. I saw the stress that came with trying to keep a business going when nobody really knew what the next few months would look like. Looking back, I think that period made me grow up faster than I expected.
I learned more than how to run a restaurant
Working for my father taught me things I didn't fully appreciate at the time. I learned how to deal with people. I learned to stay calm when things became stressful. I learned that when someone depends on you, you can't always wait until you feel motivated — sometimes you simply have to show up and do the work. Most importantly, I saw how quickly life can change. Before COVID, it was easy to assume that tomorrow would look more or less like today. The pandemic showed me that this isn't guaranteed. A healthy business could suddenly struggle. Schools could close. Plans could disappear almost overnight. That experience changed the way I thought about my own future.
Medicine was already close to home
Medicine wasn't something completely unfamiliar to me. My siblings are doctors, and they have always been a huge source of inspiration in my life. Growing up, I saw the amount of discipline and dedication it took for them to become doctors. I also saw what came after all those years of studying — being able to use their knowledge to help people when they were at their most vulnerable. My sister's journey was especially important when I started considering medicine seriously. She had studied medicine in Košice herself, so I had someone close to me who actually knew what it was like to study there. I could ask her about the university, the city and what studying medicine abroad was really like. Having that connection made Košice feel much less unfamiliar. Instead of trying to figure everything out by myself, I had someone I trusted who had already been through the same journey. She was also the person who introduced me to Medently. Because she had first-hand experience studying in Košice, I trusted her judgement, and that connection is part of how I later ended up joining the Medently team myself. During COVID, medicine became even more meaningful to me. While I was seeing uncertainty from the perspective of our family business, I was also seeing how important healthcare professionals were during a crisis. Through my siblings, medicine stopped feeling like just another possible career. It became something I could genuinely imagine myself pursuing. They never made the decision for me, but seeing the paths they had taken gave me something important: proof that it was possible. They became people I could look up to, learn from and turn to for guidance. Their example gave me the confidence to seriously consider whether medicine could be the right path for me too.
I wanted something different
By the time I was finishing high school, I knew I wanted to build a future that meant something to me. Working in the restaurant had given me an appreciation for business and hard work, but it also made me question what I actually wanted to spend my life doing. I didn't have everything figured out. In fact, for a long time, I didn't. But between everything I experienced during COVID and the example my siblings had set for me, medicine gradually became more than just an idea. I began to see it as a path where the qualities I had developed — responsibility, resilience, patience and the ability to work under pressure — could actually mean something. The uncertainty of those years taught me that life doesn't always follow the plan you originally imagined. For me, the journey started behind the counter of my father's fast-food restaurant during one of the most uncertain periods of our lives. My siblings helped inspire where that journey could lead. My sister's experience in Košice helped show me the way there. And eventually, medicine stopped being a plan. I applied, I got in, and I have been a medical student ever since.
Where I am today
Today I am a medical student, and I have been one for a long time now. The dream that started behind the counter is my everyday life: lectures, labs and exams. I am also a partner at Medently, where I lead student relations. Once new students have passed their entrance exam and arrived, I am one of the first people they meet. I help them settle into student life, from their first days at university to feeling at home in a new city. I know how big that step feels, because I took it myself. I get to be the person I wish I had met in my own first weeks as a student.
Can you study medicine in Košice (UPJŠ) in English?
Yes. Pavol Jozef Šafárik University (UPJŠ) in Košice, Slovakia offers a full 6-year General Medicine degree (MUDr.) taught entirely in English, alongside a 5-year Dentistry programme (MDDr.). Admission is based on the university's own entrance exam in biology and chemistry — not on your past grades. Košice is the city where Usman's sister studied medicine — and UPJŠ is the university where Medently's founder Saif studies today.
When Saif was applying, agencies tried to charge thousands of euros for basic document handling. He built Medently to change that. Medently is officially partnered with and funded directly by European universities. Guidance, mock exams, and application support cost students absolutely nothing. No catches, no hidden fees — ever.
Working a job, helping your family — and still dreaming of medicine?
Usman went from serving customers in his father's restaurant to years as a medical student, with his sister's experience in Košice showing the way. If you're unsure where to start, talk to us first. Medently helps students from Norway, the UK, and the UAE find the right path to medicine and dentistry in Europe — no UCAT, no BMAT, no agency fees.
Get free guidance →Sometimes you simply have to show up and do the work.
Usman grew up working in his father's fast-food restaurant, watched his siblings become doctors, and has been a medical student himself for years. As a partner at Medently he supports students throughout their whole journey at university.
