University Medicine Greifswald

University Medicine Greifswald is one of the founding faculties of the university established in 1456, and with 936 beds and 191 places per cohort it is one of Germany's smaller locations. That is precisely the source of its profile: small course groups, short distances, and a hospital concentrated in a single new building. On the research side, Greifswald is best known nationally for the Study of Health in Pomerania — one of Germany's longest-running epidemiological cohort studies — as well as for community medicine and infectious disease research.

Particularly notable is the selection process: unlike most faculties, Greifswald does not place a test result at the center of its procedure but the personal interview. The location therefore suits you if you come across more convincingly in direct conversation than on paper, if a small university town on the Baltic coast appeals to you, and if you want to work in the rural healthcare landscape of Western Pomerania. Anyone looking for the wide range of academic subjects and leisure options a major city offers will not find that here.

Allocation runs nationwide via hochschulstart.de: 30 percent of places through the top-grades quota, 10 percent through the additional aptitude quota in which the school-leaving grade does not count, and 60 percent through the university's own selection process. In that process, Greifswald weights a personal interview at 90 percent; a test result such as the TMS therefore plays a considerably smaller role than at most other faculties. The exact structure is set out in the university's admissions regulations and adjusted from cycle to cycle.

No tuition fees apply. The only payment is the University of Greifswald's semester contribution, which is set each semester.

Standard Curriculum under the Medical Licensing Regulations

Greifswald trains students in the classic standard curriculum, not a model curriculum. The program normally lasts six years and three months and is divided into four preclinical semesters, six clinical semesters, and the Praktisches Jahr of 48 weeks. The program starts exclusively in the winter semester. A nursing placement and Famulaturen are required, as at all German faculties.

How Teaching Works in Greifswald

The faculty is small by national standards, and this shapes teaching: small groups, good student-to-teacher ratios, and a high proportion of clinical-practical instruction. Teaching is interdisciplinary and topic-based, following a path from symptom through diagnosis to patient care. The begreifbar teaching and learning center is available for medical skills and communication training. Assessment uses a mix of written examinations, OSCE stations, and structured observations during practical placements. A Greifswald strength is community medicine — population and health services research; those with academic ambitions can additionally enter a structured research program.

Praktisches Jahr, Examinations, Approbation

The Praktisches Jahr is completed at University Medicine or at one of the teaching hospitals in the region, including Hanse-Klinikum Stralsund, the Kreiskrankenhaus Wolgast, Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-Klinikum Neubrandenburg, and hospitals on Rügen and in Pasewalk. The Medical Licensing Examination has three sections: the First after the preclinical phase, the Second before the Praktisches Jahr, and the Third as an oral-practical examination afterward. With the Staatsexamen you apply for Approbation directly in Germany; no recognition process is required.

A Small Town on the Water

Greifswald has around 60,000 inhabitants, roughly 10,000 of whom study at the university. This ratio is visible throughout the city: a young crowd, short distances, a compact old town. The Ryck river leads out to the former fishing villages of Wieck and Eldena; Rügen and Usedom are about half an hour away by car.

Housing and Daily Life

University Medicine is located in the Nördliche Mühlenvorstadt district, where the clinics have been concentrated in a connected new building complex since 2014 — no need to cross the city when changing between subjects. Housing is among the most affordable available in any German university town; in addition to student services dormitories, you can find flat shares in old buildings. Greifswald is an emphatically cycling city, with a very large share of daily journeys made by bicycle. You do not need a car here.

Getting There

Trains run toward Stralsund and Berlin, and onward connections are available from there. Anyone coming from the south or west of Germany should honestly factor in that the journey is long. That is the price of the Baltic Sea location.

Is Greifswald a model curriculum?

No. Greifswald uses the standard curriculum, with the classic division into preclinical and clinical phases. The First Section of the Medical Licensing Examination comes after four semesters. Practical elements and interdisciplinary teaching are, however, embedded early in the curriculum.

How do you get a place?

Allocation runs centrally via hochschulstart, with a top-grades quota, an additional aptitude quota, and the university's own selection process. The weighting of school-leaving grade, test result, and other criteria is set by the university itself and published annually. Medschool Experts advises on studying medicine without a Numerus clausus in Germany and abroad and does not place students at state German faculties.

What is community medicine?

It is a Greifswald research and teaching focus concerned with the health of entire population groups rather than individual patients. This includes large epidemiological studies in Western Pomerania and questions of health services research. For you, this means that public health and population-level thinking are more prominent in the curriculum than at many other locations.

Where can I do the Praktisches Jahr?

At University Medicine itself or at one of the academic teaching hospitals in Western Pomerania and the surrounding area, for example in Stralsund, Wolgast, Neubrandenburg, Pasewalk, or on Rügen. International tertials are also possible under the rules of the Medical Licensing Regulations. The exact quotas and deadlines are managed by the student deanery.

Is such a small town boring in the long run?

That depends on what you are looking for. Greifswald has a lively student scene due to the high proportion of students, but it does not offer a big-city range of options. In return you get short distances, low rent, the Baltic Sea on your doorstep, and a faculty where people will know your name after a few semesters.