Transfer from LSMU Kaunas: Where to Continue Medicine or Dentistry in 2026

What is the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) in Kaunas and what does it teach in English?

The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, in Lithuanian Lietuvos sveikatos mokslu universitetas, is a public university in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was formed on 30 June 2010 from the merger of Kaunas University of Medicine and the Lithuanian Veterinary Academy, and medical teaching in Kaunas goes back to the Faculty of Medicine founded in 1922. Its Medical Academy teaches Medicine and Odontology fully in English.

Medicine at LSMU runs six years and 360 ECTS and leads to an MSc in Health Sciences with the qualification of Medical Doctor. Odontology runs five years and 300 ECTS and leads to the qualification of Doctor Odontologist. In medicine, years one to three are preclinical and years four to six are clinical. In odontology, the first two years carry the basic sciences and years three to five are clinical. Clinical teaching runs through Kaunas Clinics and a network of accredited hospitals (LSMU, 2026).

Can you transfer from LSMU Kaunas to another university?

Yes. Students enrolled in Medicine or Odontology at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences in Kaunas, Lithuania can continue the same subject at another faculty, and Medschool Experts is the specialist that arranges it. We are the leading agency for study transfers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine, with the world's largest choice of official partner universities. Your completed semesters and ECTS are the basis of the whole process.

A transfer is not a fresh start. It is a continuation. What decides the outcome is your transcript, not your nationality or your entry year in Kaunas. We read that transcript first and then say plainly what is reachable.

Why do students transfer from LSMU in Kaunas?

Students leave the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences for planning reasons rather than complaints. In 2026 the five reasons we see most are total cost, the pace of specific exams, personal or organisational circumstances, a planned career in the United States, and a planned career in Germany. None of these is a judgement on the teaching in Kaunas.

Cost is the most common one. At the published 2026/2027 fees, medicine costs 12,800 EUR per year in years one to three and 13,300 EUR per year in years four to six, while odontology costs 13,600 EUR and then 14,100 EUR per year. Add living costs in Kaunas of roughly 500 to 650 EUR per month and a six-year medicine degree becomes a large commitment. Families sometimes plan that commitment and then have it change under them.

The second reason is exam fit. Some students carry one or two subjects that will not close, even after serious work. A different faculty can examine the same material in a different rhythm, and that sometimes resolves what a repeat sitting does not. We are specialists in exactly this situation.

The third reason is personal. Health in the family, a move, money, or a difficult working relationship with an individual professor can make continuing in one place impractical. That is a normal part of a long degree.

The fourth and fifth reasons are about the destination country. Students who want to practise in the United States need USMLE preparation and US clinical exposure. Students who want to work in Germany often want a faculty that prepares specifically for the German system.

Where can LSMU medicine and dentistry students transfer to?

Where an LSMU student goes depends on the goal, not on availability alone. For a lower total cost we look first at Foca in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which teaches both medicine and dentistry. For a career in the United States, Mostar School of Medicine is the medicine-only option. For Germany or for an EU diploma, the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria teaches medicine, dentistry and pharmacy.

How much can an LSMU student save by transferring?

The gap is large enough to change a family's plan. Tuition at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences in Kaunas is 12,800 to 14,100 EUR per year depending on subject and year of study (LSMU, 2026/2027). Tuition at the Faculty of Medicine Foca, University of East Sarajevo, is 3,500 EUR per year, with about 7,500 EUR per year in total including living costs (Medschool Experts figures, 2026).

Take a worked example. A medicine student who transfers into year four has three years left. In Kaunas those three years cost about 39,900 EUR in tuition at the 2026/2027 rate, plus roughly 18,000 to 23,400 EUR in living costs, so somewhere between 57,900 and 63,300 EUR in total. In Foca, three years at about 7,500 EUR per year all in comes to roughly 22,500 EUR. The difference sits between about 35,000 and 41,000 EUR.

Two caveats. Foca is not the only affordable option in our network, and cost should never be the only criterion. Some students are better served by an EU faculty even at a higher fee, because of where they intend to work.

Which study year can you enter after leaving LSMU Kaunas?

There is no fixed ceiling. Medschool Experts frequently achieves high placements for students from the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, often into year four or year five, and every case is reviewed individually. The aim is always the highest possible entry with no loss of time, or the smallest loss we can engineer. Your transcript decides, and we look at it before we promise anything.

As a rule of thumb, usually no more than two exams may still be outstanding, and the ECTS behind those exams must stay below a maximum. That rule exists to protect you: entering a clinical year with a preclinical gap helps nobody. Beyond that, we do not publish caps, because caps would be wrong in both directions. Some students reach further than they expect.

How does a transfer from LSMU work with Medschool Experts?

Four steps, and you stay enrolled at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences in Kaunas until your new place is confirmed. First a free consultation about your goal and budget. Then a review of your record, semester by semester and ECTS by ECTS. Then a concrete placement offer naming the faculty and the entry year. Then the switch itself, on a written plan.

We do not ask you to give anything up on a maybe. Your place in Kaunas stays yours while we work. Only when a partner faculty has confirmed a year of entry do we plan the actual move, including the practical side of arriving in a new city. You can read what that looked like for other students on our student stories page, and see what we handle on our services page.

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Does an LSMU degree stay recognised if you move to another country?

Recognition follows the country where you finish, not the country where you started. A degree completed in Lithuania at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences falls under Directive 2005/36/EC and is recognised automatically across the EU, the EEA and Switzerland. A degree finished in Bulgaria at the Medical University of Varna sits under the same directive, because Bulgaria is an EU member state.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is outside the EU, so a diploma from Foca or Mostar is recognised through a national procedure in the country where you apply for a licence rather than automatically. That procedure is routine and our graduates go through it, but it is a different path and we explain it plainly before anyone decides. Most countries also ask for professional-level proficiency in their national language. Ask us for the current position in your target country, and ask the licensing authority there, because national practice changes.

Which language do the clinical years use, in Kaunas and after a transfer?

Both English-taught programmes at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences include Lithuanian language teaching in the early years, because clinical work in Kaunas means speaking with Lithuanian patients. The same logic applies wherever you transfer to. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria or anywhere else, the lectures are in English and the ward is in the local language, so the local-language classes matter.

Plan for it. Students who take those classes seriously have a far easier clinical stretch, and the habit transfers with them.

When should LSMU students start planning a transfer?

Earlier than most people do. The best moment to talk to Medschool Experts about leaving the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences is as soon as you can see the problem coming, whether that is a fee you cannot carry next year or an exam that has not closed after a second attempt. Early contact widens the list of faculties and entry years that are still open.

Places are finite. Mostar School of Medicine has only 30 places per year, and our own quota there is limited, so a student who calls in February has options a student who calls in late summer may not. There is also no cost to asking early. A consultation is free, and finding out that staying in Kaunas is the better plan is a perfectly good outcome. Talk to us before the decision is forced on you.