6-Year Medical Programs for High School Students

Q: Am I too young at 18 to live abroad?

Most of your classmates will be the same age, and universities have international offices to help.

Want to go straight from high school into medicine? In the US that means a handful of hyper-competitive BS/MD programs. In Europe it's the normal way: a six-year MD you start right after graduation, fully in English.

If you already know at 17 that you want to be a doctor, the US system can feel like a long waiting room. Four years of college, the MCAT, then four years of medical school. The few BS/MD programs that let you skip part of that get thousands of applications for a handful of seats.

Europe works differently. Medicine is a first degree there. You apply with your high school diploma, start the MD in the fall, and six years later you're a doctor. That's what a 6-year medical program looks like when it's the norm instead of the exception.

How the six years are structured

Years	What you do
1 to 2	Anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, histology, plus the local language
3	Pathology, pharmacology, microbiology; good time for USMLE Step 1
4 to 5	Clinical subjects in the university hospital, US electives in the summers
6	Final clinical rotations, USMLE Step 2 CK, residency application

European 6-year MD vs US BS/MD programs

	European 6-year MD	US BS/MD program
Length	6 years	usually 7 to 8 years
Seats	Many programs, realistic chances	Very few, extremely competitive
MCAT	Not required	Often still required
Tuition per year	approx. 8,000 to 19,000 €	US college and medical school rates

What you need to apply

A US high school diploma with good grades in biology and chemistry. Depending on the university, there's an entrance test in those subjects or an interview. Many students apply in their senior year and start in September right after graduation. We walk you through every step.