Hannover Medical School (MHH)

Hannover Medical School is not a faculty within a comprehensive university but an independent institution: teaching, research and patient care are organised under one roof, and instruction has been running since 1965. Teaching takes place in the HannibaL model curriculum, which integrates pre-clinical and clinical content and places an early emphasis on professional orientation. The hospital has 1,520 beds and is Germany's largest transplantation centre — hearts, lungs, livers and kidneys are transplanted here in volumes that no other institution in the country matches.

This location suits you if you have completed vocational training in a healthcare profession: in the additional aptitude quota, Hannover weights this prior experience more heavily than any other German faculty, opening a second route alongside the school-leaving grade. It also suits you if you are interested in transplantation medicine, immunology or infectious disease research. Anyone looking for the broad academic horizon of a comprehensive university with subjects outside medicine will not find that here.

Study places are allocated nationwide via hochschulstart.de: 30 percent through the top school-leaving grade quota, 10 percent through the additional aptitude quota, in which the school-leaving grade carries no weight, and 60 percent through the university's own selection procedure. Hannover stands out in the additional aptitude quota: completed vocational training in a healthcare profession is weighted there more heavily than at any other German faculty. In the university's selection procedure, the school-leaving grade and a subject-specific university aptitude test are also considered; the MHH sets the weightings in its admissions regulations.

No tuition fees are charged. The only payment required is the semester contribution to Hannover Medical School, which is set anew each semester.

HannibaL: Model Curriculum in Tertial Cycles

MHH has been running the HannibaL model curriculum since the 2005/2006 winter semester — short for Hannover Integrated, Career-Oriented and Adaptive Teaching. The academic year is divided not into two semesters but into three tertials of around ten weeks each. The year group is split into three sections, so you typically experience teaching in blocks of around 90 students. The separation between pre-clinical and clinical phases is abolished, and patient contact begins from the start.

Examinations Without the Classic Physikum

Instead of a large first state examination, each module ends immediately after the teaching block with its own assessment. After two years you receive a certificate of equivalence to the First Part of the Medical Licensing Examination, which keeps open the option of transferring to another faculty. Skills are practised in a skills lab covering around 700 square metres, supplemented by OSCE examinations and bedside teaching. A full tertial is reserved for academic research; the MHH is research-intensive and offers structured doctoral programmes. The state government extended the model status at the end of 2025 by a further six years.

Praktisches Jahr and Degree

The Praktisches Jahr (practical year) takes place at MHH itself or at one of its teaching hospitals — in Hannover these include the Annastift, the Friederikenstift, the Henriettenstiftung and the Kinderkrankenhaus auf der Bult, along with hospitals across Lower Saxony. The degree is completed with the Second and Third Parts of the Medical Licensing Examination, after which the Approbation (medical licence) follows.

A Campus Dedicated Solely to Medicine

MHH is an independent institution and not a faculty of a comprehensive university. On the approximately 400,000-square-metre site in the east of Hanover, in the Roderbruch and Groß-Buchholz areas, you will find human medicine, dentistry, biochemistry and biomedicine — and nothing else. This makes the environment very medical: short distances between lecture hall, institutes and hospital, but no campus life shared with other disciplines. The large Leibniz University is located elsewhere in the city.

Housing and Getting Around

MHH has its own tram stop, and the city centre is about fifteen minutes away. Popular districts are the adjacent eastern neighbourhoods such as Kleefeld and List; right next door is the Eilenriede, the large city forest. Hannover, as the state capital, is not cheap, but rents remain moderate compared with Hamburg or Munich. Student services offer dormitory places; many students share older apartments in the eastern districts.

Daily Life and Connections

Because virtually only medicine is studied on the site, student life revolves strongly around the student council, study groups and university sports. On-campus childcare and sports facilities are available. The main station is a major ICE hub, making journeys home relatively short.

What does HannibaL stand for?

Hannover Integrated, Career-Oriented and Adaptive Teaching. This is the name of the MHH model curriculum, which has replaced the standard course of study since the mid-2000s. Its defining features are tertials instead of semesters, modules with assessments immediately following the teaching block, and patient contact from the very start.

Can I transfer to another university without having taken the Physikum?

Yes. MHH issues a certificate of equivalence to the First Part of the Medical Licensing Examination after the first two years, and corresponding certificates for the clinical part. This makes a transfer to a standard course of study possible in principle. Whether it works in a specific case depends on the receiving faculty and available places.

What does the tertial system mean for the academic year?

The academic year consists of three blocks of around ten weeks each rather than two semesters. The year group is divided into three sections for this purpose, which allows for smaller learning groups. The teaching-free periods therefore fall differently from those at other faculties — something to factor in when planning Famulaturen (clinical electives) and part-time work.

What is it like to study at a dedicated medical school?

Everything is on one campus, from anatomy to transplantation medicine, and MHH operates one of Germany's largest transplantation centres. The downside is the one-sided environment: you will not encounter fellow students from other disciplines on site. Anyone looking for a broad university experience needs to seek it out in the city.

How do I apply to MHH?

Via hochschulstart, with the top school-leaving grade quota, the additional aptitude quota and the university's own selection procedure, in which MHH applies its own criteria. The exact rules are published by the university before each application period. Medschool Experts supports paths into medical programmes that do not require a top NC, both in Germany and abroad, and does not feature in this procedure.