Charles University, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen

The Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen is one of five independent medical faculties of Charles University and was founded in 1945. It is not a branch of the Prague faculties but has its own admissions procedure, its own academic staff and its own university hospital. The English-language General Medicine programme lasts six years and ends with the Czech medical degree MUDr. For prospective students from Germany, beyond the programme itself, location is a key argument: Pilsen lies in western Bohemia, around 90 kilometres from Prague and closer to the Bavarian border than to the capital.

A Campus That Was Only Just Completed

Between 2012 and 2022, the faculty consolidated its institutes, previously scattered across the city, onto a single site: the new campus in the Lochotní district, directly beside the University Hospital Pilsen. The theoretical institutes, the administration and the Biomedical Centre are all now located there, along with a simulation centre where you practise examinations and emergency procedures on mannequins before performing them on real patients. The faculty counts around 2,000 students by its own figures, of whom approximately 500 are international, and has trained more than 12,000 doctors since its founding. The advantage is simple but noticeably felt in daily life: short distances between lectures, practicals and wards.

How the Programme Is Structured

The first years are pre-clinical — anatomy, histology, biochemistry and physiology. After that, teaching shifts progressively into the hospital. The clinical component takes place at Fakultní nemocnice Plzeň, the regional tertiary care centre. The language of instruction throughout is English. Czech is learned alongside the programme, because on the wards you communicate with patients who speak no English. This is not a peripheral formality: anyone who neglects the language will struggle in the clinical years.

What You Should Realistically Expect

Pilsen is not an easy shortcut around the NC. The entrance examination in biology, chemistry and physics is demanding, and it does not become easier because you sit it in English. The pressure does not let up afterwards: the pre-clinical years at Czech faculties act as a filter; anatomy and biochemistry weed people out significantly, and the number of resit attempts is limited. Add to this the fact that tuition fees are due each academic year — dropping out in the third year is therefore expensive. If you factor all of this in and prepare systematically and early for the entrance examination, you will find in Pilsen a well-organised location with a degree valid across the entire EU. Medschool Experts advises on NC-free pathways into medicine in Germany and abroad and knows the Czech admissions procedures from practical experience.

The Entrance Examination

The written examination covers three subjects: biology, chemistry and physics. The faculty publishes a syllabus and practice tests for each subject — work through them without fail, because the emphases and the style of questioning differ from the German Abitur curriculum. No interview is part of the process; only the written examination result counts.

Process and Deadlines

Applications are submitted electronically; the deadline has recently fallen at the end of April. The regular examination date in Pilsen is in early June, with a second sitting in the same month. A practical advantage for you: the examination is also administered outside the Czech Republic, including in Germany, at various points between May and August. The exact dates are set by the faculty each year — do not plan based on the previous year’s schedule.

Fees and Living Costs

The tuition fee for General Medicine in English is 390,000 CZK per academic year (as at the 2026/2027 academic year). An application processing fee of 940 CZK is added for electronic applications. Accommodation and living costs in Pilsen are lower than in Prague and lower than in most German university cities. The faculty does not publish reliable flat-rate estimates, so base your budget on actual dormitory or shared housing offers rather than on rules of thumb.

Structure and Language of Instruction

The programme lasts six years and is taught entirely in English. The pre-clinical section covers the scientific and morphological foundations; the clinical subjects with bedside teaching follow. Czech is part of the curriculum throughout the programme, because without the local language you cannot function in patient contact.

Clinical Placements and Hospital

Clinical training takes place primarily at the University Hospital Pilsen, which is located directly on the new campus. Preceding this is the simulation centre, where examination techniques and emergency procedures are practised on mannequins before students work with real patients. In the later years you work in blocks on the wards of the major clinical departments.

Degree and Recognition in Germany

The degree awarded is MUDr., the Czech equivalent of medical training to EU standards. The Czech Republic is an EU member state, so the diploma falls under the automatic recognition provisions of Directive 2005/36/EC. This does not mean, however, that you may practise automatically: you apply for the Approbation from the competent state authority, which requires proof of your German language proficiency — typically at C1 level and additionally in the form of a medical language examination. Allow time for this process after graduation.

Pilsen as a Place to Study

Pilsen is the fourth-largest city in the Czech Republic and yet compact enough that most of what you need is reachable on foot or by bicycle. The city is shaped by industry, brewing and the university, and has a modest but real student scene. Anyone looking for the nightlife of Prague or Brno will not find it here; anyone wanting peace for studying and short distances between commitments will.

Accommodation and Daily Life

A portion of students are housed in university dormitories; the rest rent privately, often in shared flats with other students from the English-language programme. Rents are well below the level of German university cities. There is always a group of German-speaking students in the international cohort, typically well connected through year-group chats and student council networks.

Getting There from Germany

Pilsen lies on the motorway towards Nuremberg; the border crossing at Waidhaus is about an hour away. There are regular long-distance bus and rail connections to Munich and Nuremberg, as well as very frequent services to Prague. For a weekend at home, the journey is a manageable length.

Is the Pilsen faculty the same as Charles University in Prague?

It is the same university but a different faculty. Charles University has five medical faculties, three in Prague and one each in Pilsen and in Hradec Králové. Each faculty runs its own admissions procedure and sets its own fees. An application to Pilsen is therefore not automatically an application to Prague.

Do I need to travel to the Czech Republic for the entrance examination?

Not necessarily. The regular sittings take place in Pilsen, but the examination is also administered abroad through partner agencies, including in Germany. The dates and venues are published by the faculty each year — do not rely on information from the previous year.

How difficult is the entrance examination really?

It is demanding and covers biology, chemistry and physics at upper secondary level, with emphases that differ from the German Abitur curriculum. Without several months of targeted preparation it is difficult to pass. The faculty provides syllabi and practice tests that you can use to guide your preparation.

Do I need Czech?

Not for teaching, which runs entirely in English. You do need it for ward work, since patients speak Czech. The language is therefore part of the programme throughout, and by the clinical years at the latest you will notice whether you took it seriously.

Is the degree recognised in Germany?

Yes. The Czech Republic is an EU member state, and the MUDr. falls under the automatic recognition provisions of Directive 2005/36/EC. You then apply for the Approbation from the competent state authority. You will need to demonstrate your German language proficiency, typically at C1 level and additionally through a medical language examination.