Studying medicine and dentistry in Europe
Studying medicine is a dream for many graduates of high schools in Europe or worldwide. Helping people, saving lives, and great career perspective – there is no surprise, that number of applications to medical faculties raises continually. On the other hand, there are many countries, where the number of places at medical faculties is limited (so-called numerus clausus in Germany, admission based on final secondary school examination in UK, Poland, etc). Study medicine or dentistry abroad in English is a great option for those of you, who would like to study medicine and can not get a place in your country.
You can focus on the following countries when doing research about options to study medical programs in Europe: Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Croatia, and Italy. These countries do offer programs for a reasonable price (a respectively reasonable mix between living costs and tuition fees).
The program of General medicine takes 6 years and graduates are awarded the degree of Doctor of general medicine. European schools run on the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), which makes medical degrees recognizable everywhere in Europe and most countries of the world. The costs vary from 3500€ in Italy and Bosnia (with a very limited number of seats) to 15.000€ per year in Hungary, Poland, or Latvia.
The program of Dental medicine takes 5 years in the Czech Republic, Latvia, and Poland and 6 years in other countries like Slovakia. Students can benefit from the recognition of their degrees in Europe – all good Universities in Europe are running under the ECTS system, which means that it is possible to work in your home country without the need to pass any recognition exam (on another hand, in some countries there may be a rule to pass language test after return).
Admission to Slovak Medical Universities
I help students mostly with admission to Slovak medical universities since 2015. Every year there are tens of students whom we help to apply to faculties in Kosice, Bratislava, Martin, or Riga. The program of General medicine is 6 years (12 semesters) with a cost of 9000-10.900€ per academic year (2 semesters). The program of Dental medicine takes 6 years (12 semesters) with costs 11.000€. Admission is based on writing the entrance exam with topics of biology and chemistry. There are usually databanks of questions that applicants need to memorize to pass the test.
There are 4 faculties of medicine in Slovakia:
1. Faculty of Medicine in Kosice, Pavel Jozef Safarik University (programs General medicine and Dental medicine)
2. The Jessenius Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava (program General medicine)
3. Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University (program General medicine and Dental medicine)
4. Faculty of Medicine, Slovak medical university (program General medicine)
Admission to Latvian Medical Universities
Latvia offers excellent study opportunities for international students. Unlike other countries, there are 2 intakes in Latvia: September and February intake. There are not many universities in Europe, that offer Spring intake, so it is definitely an interesting idea to apply to Riga Stradins University. The study system in Latvia is a little bit different – as there are Latvian credits, which equals approximately 1,5 ECTS credits. There are mostly students coming from Germany, Finland, Sweden, or Norway studying in Latvia.
I can help you to study in the following faculty in Latvia:
- Faculty of Medicine, Riga Stradins University (programs General medicine and Dental medicine)
Admission to Bosnian Medical Universities
I have started a collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine in Foca, University in East Sarajevo, which offers a program of General medicine and Dental medicine. The University is located in Bosnia and offers a great education for students with limited budgets. The tuition fees are 3000€ per academic year (2 semesters)
- Faculty of Medicine in Foca, University of East Sarajevo (programs General medicine and Dental medicine)
Admission to Cyprus Medical Universities
There is a private university called European University Cyprus located in Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. It is possible to study General medicine and Dental medicine (since 2016/2017). The University is part of the Laureate Universities Network and is recognized under the Ministry of education of Cyprus.