Objectives: This study focuses on the assessment of attitudes and practices regarding research among undergraduate medical students from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed thorough anonymous questionnaires (May–June 2018) among 510 third- and fifth-year students of Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy from Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Results: More than 60% of the third- and fifth-year students declared that they were interested and willing to perform research during medical studies, while more than two-thirds were interested in doing so after graduation. In total, 6% of third-year students and 31% of fifth-year students declared that they had prepared a scientific presentation for a medical congress at least once. Around 9% of the third-year students contributed to the writing of a scientific article and participated in research projects. Among fifth-year students, one-quarter were involved in writing scientific papers, and 21% participated in research projects. Conclusions: To the best of our knowledge, this study assesses, for the first time in Romania, the perspectives and behaviors of medical undergraduate students with regard to involvement in research activities. The results show that Romanian medical students value opportunities for conducting research, which encourages institutional initiatives that support their involvement in curricular and extracurricular research activities.

Introduction: This study focuses on the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students in their last year of study at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. It analyzes the impact of social distance limits on the conduct of research activities required for the development of the graduation thesis, as well as assesses sixth-year students’ attitudes and behaviors toward volunteer activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in June–July 2021 among sixth-year students. It used an anonymous online questionnaire and was sent to all students from the Faculty of Medicine studying in the Romanian, English, or French sections (n = 606). The response rate was 38.28%, resulting in a final sample of 232 students from both Romanian and international sections. Results: The findings demonstrate that two-thirds of the students in the survey agreed that the COVID-19 pandemic had a substantial impact on their research. Some of the students had to choose another subject for their graduation thesis, while about a quarter of the students gave up collecting personal data, 25% of respondents stated that it was difficult to contact research participants, one-third of them linked the difficulty of doing activities at the hospital to the present outbreak, and almost 30% of the students had difficulty communicating with the coordinator. The disturbance of the research activity seems to be higher among international students in comparison with the Romanian students, while there are limited gender differences. One out of five medical students has been involved in volunteer activities during the pandemic. Most have opted to volunteer at hospitals (especially international students) and contribute to health education activities (especially women). Conclusions: This is the first study from Romania and one of the few from Europe that presents data regarding the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on research and volunteering activities among medical students.

The purpose of this study is to assess undergraduate medical students' attitudes and practices toward volunteering activities at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using anonymous questionnaires (May-June 2018) among 510 third and fifth-year students. Results: Volunteering is useful and contributes to professional development for most students. Students' interest in volunteering during or after training is influenced by many factors. Most students worked as a volunteer. Around 60.38 % of third-year students were involved in the Organization of Medical Students (OSM), only 5.38 % in some other organization, and 18.07 % in both. Among 5th-year students, 34% were involved in the Organization of Medical Students (OSM), 13% in some other organization, and 8% in both. Conclusions: The results show that most students at the Faculty of Medicine in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, recognize the value of volunteering. Undergraduate medical students are motivated and interested in this field, and for some of them, their volunteer experiences had an impact on their skills and involvement in some types of volunteerism after graduation.

From French for Specific Purposes to French for Academic Purposes Through the New Scales of the CEFR (2018). For the last fifteen years or so French specialists in education have analysed and sometimes deepened the gap between specialization and academic interests operating within the university framework. We aim at showing that through the new descriptors of the CEFR the conceptual barriers between the two areas tend to melt together into a less restrictive integrated field – French for University. REZUMAT. De la franceza de specialitate la franceza pentru obiective universitare prin noile scări ale CECRL (2018). În ultimii cinsprezece ani, specialiştii în educaţie din spaţiul francez au analizat şi, astfel, adâncit distanţa dintre specializare şi interes academic în cadru universitar. Lucrarea îsi propune să arate că prin noii descriptori ai CECRL barierele conceptuale între cele două domenii tind să fuzioneze, dând naştere unui nou domeniu mai puţin restrictiv şi integrator : franceza universitară. Cuvinte-cheie: abordare acţională, domeniu integrat, noi desciptori, franceza de specialitate, franceza pentru obiective universitare, competenţe transversale.

In 1992, the much acclaimed prolific American writer Joyce Carol Oates publishes Black Water -a very harsh and condensed literary reenactment of a gruesome event having taken place more than twenty years before and known as the "Chappaquiddick incident". Another twenty years later, through her 2012 novel Mudwoman, the author seems to revisit the topic that had haunted her for decades. This paper aims at establishing a certain narrative pattern connecting the two novels not only thematically, but also phantasmatically: the sudden "resurrection" of Joyce Carol Oates's character in the 2012 novel is, as we see it, far from being "incidental". By "textual anastomosis", we understand a subjective association of narratives in order to show how the disembodied consciousness "travels" from one character's fictional body to another's, triggering a whole bunch of personal memories which also resurrect in this other character's fictional biography.