2022 update
Transfers from the Faculty of Medicine in Bratislava, Comenius University to the Faculty of Medicine in Kosice
there were plenty of students transferring from various universities, but mostly from the Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava. The reason was difficulties in advancing to higher years in Bratislava and favorable conditions for transferring to Kosice. From the experience of my students, the following subjects were recognized from 1st and 2nd year without problems: Biology and human genetics 1, Biology and human genetics 2., First aid, Histology and embryology 1, Histology and embryology 2, Medical chemistry, medical ethics, Latin medical terminology 1 and 2, Slovak language 1-4, Microbiology 1 and 2, Physiology, Nursing care – clerkship in hospital, Fundamentals of Immunology, Medical biochemistry 1 and 2. Medical psychology and communication, Physical training 1-4. The problem was with Nursing care 2- in Kosice, there is an exam at the end of Nursing care 2, while in Bratislava, there is credit test / evaluated mark. Second difficult was with Anatomy – from 2023/2024, there will be only Anatomy 1 and anatomy 2 in Kosice, while there is anatomy 1, 2 and 3 in Bratislava. This means that students, who completed Anatomy 1,2,3 in Bratislava, will have Anatomy 1 and 2 recognised (but there will not be Anatomy 3 in Kosice anymore, so anatomy is completely completed). If student has Anatomy 1 and 2 in Bratislava, then only Anatomy 1 in Kosice is recognised and Anatomy 2 with the exam must be completed. If there is only Anatomy 1 in Bratislava completed, then Anatomy must be taken from the 1st semester in Kosice. New students had to enroll at least 40 credits, but it is required to pass 40 credits in order to proceed to the next year, so the optimal way is to enroll at least 60 credits from optional subjects in 2nd year or take some subjects from 3rd and 4th year without prerequisites.
Transfer from Al-Farabi Kazakh National University to the Faculty of Medicine, UPJS in Kosice
The student was transferring from this university to UPJS, which is a special case, as Al Farabi Kazakh is a non-EU university. There were subjects in the passed subjects: Introduction to the profession, The Human body (Medical terminology included), from Molecule to the cell, Physical training, Sociology, Foreign language, Cultutology, Political science, Psychology, Information and communication technologies, Kazakh language, Molecular biology, and bioorganic chemistry, Morphology and physiology of the human body, Philosophy, Normal structure and function of the human body, Mechanics and defense of the health, general pathology, Defense and diseases, Patient and doctor, English in use medicine, Pathology of the respiratory system, Pathology of the cardiovascular system, Pathology of the digestive system and liver, digestion; Pathology of the urinary system and homeostatic, Pathology of the endocrinology system and metabolism, Sexuality, reproduction, pregnancy and birth, Infancy, childhood and youth, Pathology of the musculoskeletal system and skin, Clinical skills and procedures, Patient and society. Professional practice – semiotics of internal diseases, Clinical skills and Prevention of diseases. THe student got 4th year (epidemiology and internal medicine were not recognized yet).
Transfers from Ukrainian Universities
Normally, Pavel Jozef Safarik University in Kosice accepts documents for recognition of subjects up to the 15th of September. This year, they made exceptions and allowed students recognition of subjects, but originals of documents must be submitted by end of October. I met students from the following universities that got favorable transfer decisions from UPJS: Medical Institute of Sumy State University, Bogomolets National Medical University and Kharkiv National Medical University. They got 3rd or 4th year (some students were studying already 5th year in Ukraine, but UPJS is accepting maximum to 4th year from 2022).
Experience from the previous years
There could be various problems when transferring credits from different universities to the University of Pavel Jozef Safarik in Kosice
- Transfer from Faculty of Medicine, Comenius University in Bratislava to UPJS in Kosice
The student was studying Dental medicine in Bratislava and transferred to Kosice. There is the subject of Propedeutics of Dental medicine 2 in Bratislava (in totally there are Propedeutics of DM 1-4 in Bratislava). This subject is completed by the credit test (not by the exam as in UPJS). Therefore it was not possible to recognise it. On another hand, students are entitled to ask for extra exam after they transfer so they don’t need to wait 1-2 semesters to complete the missing subjecs. - Transfer from the Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University (MU) to the Faculty of medicine, University of Pavel Jozef Safarik
The student was studying in Brno for 3 years and decided to transfer to Kosice. The problem was the following: the subject of Internal Medicine was not recognized. Internal propedeutics at the Masaryk University was divided into 1 and 2 and it was finished with an exam for propedeutics 2. In UPJS on the other hand, Internal propedeutics is only a one-semester course, which means there is an exam for it after the 5th semester, after that Internal Medicine 1 starts in the sixth semester. It is worth mentioning that for Surgery the same applies, but here the recognition is not a problem. Being done with surgery propedeutics 1 and 2 in MU enables you to start surgery 2 in UPJS right away.
As you did not get Internal medicine recognized, you will be behind in Internal medicine, which is the only prerequisite for starting gynecology in the fifth year. The gynecology department is the only subject in the fifth year that writes its credit test at the end of the semester for all students at the same time. All other subjects do their evaluation directly after the block teaching of the individual blocks for one or two groups of students. Also it is not possible to start classes of ophtalmology, infectiology, anaesthesiology. This situation happened for over 30 students from Masaryk University (MU).If this transfer is a must for you, try to change before your start the clinical part of your education, meaning between year 2 and 3, then I think you can minimize the risks. If the transfer or the delay of your graduation don’t bother you, I can say that as a former MU student you should not have too much trouble with the courses.