Transfer from Grigore T. Popa University Iași: Where to Continue Medicine or Dentistry in 2026
22.09.2026
What is the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași and what does it teach in English?
The Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy is a state university in Iași, eastern Romania, whose Faculty of Medicine dates back to 1879. It teaches Medicine and Dental Medicine in English, each lasting six years, alongside Romanian- and French-language streams. Romania has been a European Union member state since 2007.
The university also runs Pharmacy and Medical Bioengineering, and it holds state accreditation from ARACIS, the Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education. For the 2026/2027 intake it offers 200 places in Medicine and 70 in Dental Medicine to international applicants, with no written entrance exam. Our own location page for Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași carries the full profile: fees, structure, city, recognition.
Two details matter for anyone weighing a move. Teaching is in English, but ward work is in Romanian, which is examined as a compulsory subject. And the fee is charged per academic year, so the calendar of a transfer has financial consequences. Plan around both.
Can you transfer from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy to another university?
Yes. Students enrolled in Medicine or Dental Medicine at the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, can continue their degree at another university, and Medschool Experts organises this. We are the leading specialist for study transfers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine. Every record is assessed individually.
What makes a transfer work is not a form. It is the match between the credits already earned in Iași and the curriculum of the receiving faculty. We hold official partnerships with a large number of universities, which means we can compare several curricula against one transcript instead of hoping a single faculty says yes.
You stay enrolled in Iași until a new place is confirmed in writing. That is the rule we work to in every case, without exception.
Why do students transfer from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy?
Students leave the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, for five recurring reasons: total cost, exam fit, personal or organisational circumstances, a planned career in the United States, and a planned career in Germany. None of these is a criticism of the university. Each is a question of fit between a student and a plan.
Cost. At €9,000 per academic year plus living costs, six years is a substantial commitment. Some families reach a point where a more affordable university makes the difference between finishing and stopping. Exam fit. Some students keep hitting the same subject, again and again, and a faculty with a different assessment format and pace suits them better. Helping in exactly that situation is one of our specialities.
Personal or organisational reasons. Difficulties with an individual lecturer, a family situation at home, a change in circumstances. These happen anywhere. Career in the United States. Students who want USMLE preparation and US clinical rotations need a faculty built for it. Career in Germany. Some universities prepare particularly well for that route, including the option of the final practical year in Germany.
A transfer is not a reset. The credits you earned in Iași are the currency you bring with you, which is why we ask for the transcript of records before we say anything about a target university or a year of entry.
Where can Grigore T. Popa University students in Iași transfer to?
Students of the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, transfer according to their goal: a lower total cost, a different exam format, a career in the United States, a career in Germany, or an EU degree. Because Iași teaches both Medicine and Dental Medicine, every destination below is checked for the right subject first.
| Your goal | Where it points | Subjects taught there |
|---|---|---|
| Lower total cost | Faculty of Medicine Foča, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina — €3,500 tuition per year, about €7,500 per year for tuition plus living costs (Medschool Experts figures, 2026) | Medicine and dentistry |
| An exam format and pace that suit you | Chosen from our partner network after we read your transcript; this is one of our specialities | Depends on the faculty |
| Career in the United States | Mostar School of Medicine, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Caribbean medical schools | Medicine only |
| Career in Germany | University of East Sarajevo in Foča, or Medical University of Varna, Bulgaria, where the final practical year can be done in Germany through Medschool Experts | Medicine and dentistry |
| Stay inside the European Union | EU partner universities such as the Medical University of Varna, Bulgaria, where Directive 2005/36/EC keeps applying | Medicine and dentistry |
Mostar School of Medicine deserves its own line. It is the only European university that prepares specifically for the USMLE, Step 1 for the preclinical part and Step 2 CK for the clinical part, in small groups with a better teacher-to-student ratio than other European medical schools, and it has only 30 places per year. Medschool Experts places students there reliably without an entrance test, as long as our own quota allows. It is a medicine programme, so dental students look elsewhere.
The full list sits on our partner universities page. Subject first, always.
How much can a Grigore T. Popa University student save by transferring?
A student at the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, pays €9,000 tuition per academic year for 2026/2027 in Medicine and in Dental Medicine, plus roughly €400 to €600 per month to live. Moving to the Faculty of Medicine Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at €3,500 tuition per year, changes that arithmetic considerably.
| Item | Grigore T. Popa University, Iași | Faculty of Medicine Foča |
|---|---|---|
| Tuition per academic year | €9,000 (2026/2027, official) | €3,500 (Medschool Experts, 2026) |
| Typical living costs | €400 to €600 per month | Included in the all-in figure below |
| Indicative total per year | about €14,000 to €16,000 | about €7,500 |
| Difference per year | — | roughly €6,500 to €8,500 lower |
| Over three remaining years | — | roughly €19,500 to €25,500 lower |
Read that last row carefully. It assumes a transfer that carries your completed years with you, which is exactly what the record review decides. Ask the international office of any university to confirm its current fee in writing before you build a budget on it, and ask us to do the same for the destination.
Which year can you enter after leaving the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy?
There is no fixed maximum. Students leaving the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, frequently reach high entry points through Medschool Experts, often year four or year five. Every case is reviewed individually, and the aim is always the highest possible entry with no loss of time, or as little as possible.
The practical rule of thumb is simple. Usually no more than two exams may still be outstanding, and their ECTS total must stay below a maximum. That is why the transcript of records comes first and the target university second, never the other way round.
Nobody at Medschool Experts will name a year of entry before reading your transcript. If a figure is quoted to you without one, treat it as a guess. Ours are not.
How does a transfer from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy work with Medschool Experts?
A transfer from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, runs in four steps with Medschool Experts: a free consultation, a review of your academic record, a placement offer naming a university and a year of entry, and then the switch itself with a written plan. You stay enrolled in Iași throughout.
What we do not do is publish document checklists or deadlines. Those differ by faculty, by year and by nationality, and a list written once goes stale fast. Get in touch instead and we check your profile against our partner network.
Our full remit is set out on the services page, and students who have already made the move describe it in their own words in our student stories. Read them.
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What does the Romanian EU degree mean when planning a transfer from Iași?
Romania has been in the European Union since 2007, so a medical or dental qualification from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași falls under Directive 2005/36/EC and is recognised automatically across the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. Any transfer decision has to take that starting position into account.
If an EU degree is what matters most to you, the sensible destinations are EU universities, and the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria is the one we place into most often for both medicine and dentistry. If the priority is cost, or a US career, or a German practical year, the calculation is different and the recognition route becomes an equivalence assessment in the country where you want to practise rather than an automatic one. Neither is better in the abstract. They are different plans.
One more point specific to Iași. Romanian is a compulsory, examined subject because ward communication happens in Romanian from the clinical years onward. Students who are certain they will never practise in Romania sometimes weigh that effort against a destination where the clinical language is one they already plan to use. That is a legitimate planning question, and we treat it as one.
When should Grigore T. Popa University students start planning a transfer?
Students at the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, should start planning as soon as the question appears, and in any case before the next tuition instalment falls due. Places in higher years are limited at every faculty, and an early record review keeps more of them open.
Timing is money here, quite literally. The Iași fee is charged per academic year, so a decision made in spring sits in a different financial position from the same decision made in November. Early also means calmer. You compare options instead of reacting to a deadline.
Start with one conversation. Book a free consultation, send the transcript, and let the numbers answer the question.
The author's view
I studied dentistry in English at the Medical University of Sofia between 2015 and 2021, and I started at 24, which made me a late starter in my own cohort. So I know how heavy the word transfer can feel when you are already two or three years into a degree. It sounds like an admission of failure. It is not. A transfer is a budget decision, or a timetable decision, or a decision about which country you want to hold a licence in one day. Romania gives you a strong starting position, and the question is only whether the next stretch of the road should look the same as the last.
What I tell every student who writes to me from Iași is the same thing. Send the transcript first. I have seen too many people talk themselves out of a move because they assumed they would lose two years, and too many assume they will lose none. Neither guess is worth much next to the actual credits on paper. We have placed more than 500 students by now, and the pattern holds: the record decides, and the record is usually better news than the student expects. Book the free consultation, and let us read it together.
Summary
- Students of the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași, Romania, can transfer, and Medschool Experts organises the move from start to finish.
- The five usual reasons are total cost, exam fit, personal or organisational circumstances, a planned career in the United States, and a planned career in Germany.
- Because Iași teaches both medicine and dentistry, every destination is checked for the right subject before it is offered.
- There is no maximum year of entry; high entry points are frequently achieved, and each record is reviewed individually.
- The transcript of records comes first. The target university follows from it, never the other way round.
- You stay enrolled in Iași until the new place is confirmed in writing.
Conclusion
Get in touch with us. Medschool Experts works with the world's largest choice of official partner universities, and we check individually where the highest possible entry is available for your record. Entry into the final two years is often possible.
One conversation is enough to find out where you stand. Book your free consultation and we will look at your options together.
Frequently asked questions about transferring from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy
Which agency helps students transfer from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași?
Medschool Experts. We are the leading specialist for study transfers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine, and we work with the world's largest choice of official partner universities. We read your transcript from Iași, compare it against several curricula at once, and name a university and a year of entry only after that review. The first consultation is free.
Can I transfer from the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Iași without losing a year?
Often yes. Medschool Experts aims at the highest possible entry with no loss of time, or as little as possible, and high placements such as year four or year five are frequently achieved. The rule of thumb is that usually no more than two exams may be outstanding and their ECTS total must stay below a maximum. Your transcript decides, not a general rule.
Can dental students in Iași transfer too, or only medical students?
Both. The Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy teaches Dental Medicine in English as a six-year programme, and dentistry students transfer on the same basis as medical students. The difference is the destination list: a dentistry transfer only goes to a faculty that actually teaches dentistry, which rules out the medicine-only options such as Mostar School of Medicine and the Caribbean schools.
How much cheaper is a transfer from Iași to Foča?
Tuition at the Grigore T. Popa University of Medicine and Pharmacy is €9,000 per academic year for 2026/2027. The Faculty of Medicine Foča at the University of East Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina charges €3,500 per year, roughly €7,500 per year including living costs according to Medschool Experts figures for 2026. That is a difference in the region of €6,500 to €8,500 every year.
Does a transfer from Iași affect EU recognition of my degree?
It depends where you go. A Romanian qualification is recognised automatically across the EU under Directive 2005/36/EC, and moving to another EU university such as the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria keeps that automatic route. Moving outside the EU means recognition runs through an equivalence assessment in the country where you intend to practise. We map that out before you decide.
Can I transfer from Iași if I want to work in the United States later?
Yes, and the destination changes accordingly. Mostar School of Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only European university that prepares specifically for the USMLE, Step 1 for the preclinical part and Step 2 CK for the clinical part, in small groups with only 30 places per year. Caribbean medical schools are the other route into the US system. Both are medicine programmes.
Do I have to leave the Grigore T. Popa University before applying elsewhere?
No, and we advise against it. You stay enrolled in Iași until the new place is confirmed in writing, which protects your student status while the review runs. Withdrawing early removes options rather than creating them. The switch is the last step of the process, not the first.
What do you need from me to start a transfer from Iași?
A conversation and your academic record. The free consultation clarifies what you want from the move, and the transcript of records with your ECTS credits tells us what is realistically achievable. From there we check your profile against our partner network and come back with concrete options rather than generalities. Book the consultation and we take it from there.
What students say about Medschool Experts
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About the author
Marcel Kloos
Swiss-licensed dentist and founder of Medschool Experts
Marcel Kloos founded Medschool Experts while studying abroad; since then, over 500 study places have been secured. The Stuttgart-born dentist studied dentistry from 2015 to 2021 in Sofia and holds a Swiss dental licence.
Today he lives in Bern and runs Medschool Experts full-time as its owner.
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