Transfer from the University of Crete: Where to Continue Medicine in 2026

What is the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine, and what does it teach?

The University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine is the medical school of the University of Crete in Heraklion, Greece. The University of Crete was founded in 1973 and began teaching in the academic year 1977 to 1978. Its School of Medicine was established in 1983 and admitted its first students in 1984. Medicine lasts six years.

Teaching takes place on the Voutes campus, and clinical training is closely tied to the University Hospital of Heraklion. Two routes into medicine exist side by side. The regular Greek national programme is taught in Greek. Alongside it, the faculty runs the International Program in Medicine, an English-taught six-year course of 12 semesters and 360 ECTS with 30 places per academic year, open to international students who completed secondary school outside Greece.

The published tuition for that English-taught programme is EUR 15,000 per academic year (University of Crete, International Program in Medicine, figure published 2026). Greece is a member of the European Union, so a completed Greek basic medical qualification sits inside the European recognition system described in Directive 2005/36/EC.

Can you transfer from the University of Crete to another medical university?

Yes. A student who has already started medicine at the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine in Heraklion, Greece can continue at another medical university instead of starting again from scratch. Medschool Experts is the leading specialist for study transfers in medicine, dentistry, pharmacy and veterinary medicine, and works with the world's largest choice of official partner universities.

What a transfer is really about is credit. Semesters you have already passed in Heraklion are examined subject by subject, and the question is how far into a new curriculum they carry you. That answer is never a guess. It comes from reading your transcript against the curriculum of the receiving faculty.

Medschool Experts does that review for you and then puts a concrete university and a concrete year in front of you. You can see the full range on our overview of partner universities, and how we work on our services page.

Why do students transfer from the University of Crete?

Students leave Heraklion for planning reasons, not because of the teaching. Five motives come up again and again at Medschool Experts, and each of them is a question of fit between a student and a faculty. None of them is a criticism of the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine or of Greek medical education.

• Cost. Tuition of EUR 15,000 per academic year plus living costs in Heraklion adds up over six years. A more affordable partner university keeps the same degree within reach on a smaller budget.
• Specific exams. Some students hit one or two subjects that refuse to fall. A faculty with a different exam format and a different pace can change that. We help with exactly this, and it is one of our specialities.
• Personal or organisational reasons. Problems with an individual professor, a family situation at home, a change in circumstances. Sometimes continuing in the same place simply stops working.
• Career goal United States. Students who want to practise in the United States need a route built around the USMLE and United States clinical rotations.
• Career goal Germany. Some universities prepare students for German practice particularly well, including through the final practical year.

Where can University of Crete students transfer to?

Where a University of Crete student can transfer to depends on the goal, not on the origin. Medschool Experts matches students from Heraklion, Greece to official partner universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Serbia, Malta and the Caribbean. The right destination is the one that fits your budget, your exam profile and the country you want to work in later.

Each of these is a real place with real students. Foca and Varna are European faculties with a long track record of taking transfer students. Mostar is unusual: 30 places a year, small groups, a better teacher-to-student ratio than most European medical schools, and a curriculum built around the USMLE. Medschool Experts places students there reliably without an entrance test, as long as our own quota allows. You can read what students say on our student stories page.

Short version. Pick the goal first, then the university. Detail pages for Foca, Varna, Mostar and Nis set out programmes and figures for each.

How much can a University of Crete student save by transferring?

A student at the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine in Heraklion, Greece pays EUR 15,000 in tuition per academic year on the English-taught International Program in Medicine, plus roughly EUR 750 a month to live. At the Faculty of Medicine Foca in Bosnia and Herzegovina, tuition is EUR 3,500 per year and the whole year, tuition and living together, comes to about EUR 7,500 (Medschool Experts figures, 2026).

Run that across the years you still have left and the gap becomes the price of a car, or several. Three remaining years at roughly EUR 24,000 against three at roughly EUR 7,500 is a difference of about EUR 49,500. That is not a reason on its own to move. It is a number worth knowing before you decide.

Costs are not the only variable, of course. Some students move to a more affordable university and use the saved budget for exam preparation, electives or a longer clinical placement abroad. Others simply finish without debt.

Which year can you enter after leaving the University of Crete?

There is no fixed ceiling on the entry year for a student leaving the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine in Heraklion, Greece. Medschool Experts frequently achieves high placements, often into year 4 or year 5. Every case is reviewed individually, and the aim is always the highest entry possible with no or minimal loss of time.

As a rule of thumb, usually no more than two exams may still be outstanding, and the ECTS attached to those exams must stay below a maximum. That is why the transcript review matters so much. Two students from the same semester in Heraklion can land in different years, because what they have passed differs.

How does a transfer from the University of Crete work with Medschool Experts?

A transfer from the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine in Heraklion, Greece runs in four steps with Medschool Experts: a free consultation, a detailed review of your academic record, a concrete placement offer naming university and entry year, and then the switch itself, planned so that you stay enrolled until the new place is confirmed.

That last point is the one students most often get wrong on their own. Do not withdraw early. You keep your current student status in Heraklion until the new university has confirmed you in writing, which means you are never in the gap between two enrolments.

We do not publish document checklists, deadlines or application formats here, because they differ by faculty and by year and they change. Talk to us instead. We check your profile against our partner network and tell you what applies to your case.

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Is medicine at the University of Crete taught in English or in Greek?

Both, on two separate tracks. The regular undergraduate medical programme of the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine in Heraklion, Greece is taught in Greek and follows the Greek national admission route. Separately, the faculty runs the International Program in Medicine, where all basic, pre-clinical and clinical courses are taught and assessed in English.

The English-taught programme is open to international students who are not Greek citizens and who finished secondary education outside Greece. It runs 12 semesters, 360 ECTS, six years, with 30 places per academic year and tuition of EUR 15,000 per year as published by the university in 2026.

One detail that matters for planning. Students on the English-taught programme also receive Greek language teaching, with the stated aim of reaching B2 level so they can communicate with patients during clinical training in Heraklion. That is normal for a medical degree taught in a language other than the local one, and it is worth knowing before the clinical years begin. Several Medschool Experts partner universities teach medicine in English throughout, including the clinical years, in countries where the same patient-communication requirement applies in the local language.

Does a medical degree from Greece still count if you transfer to another country?

Greece is a member of the European Union, so a basic medical qualification completed in Greece falls under Directive 2005/36/EC and is recognised automatically in other EU and EEA member states. If you transfer to another EU university, for example the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria, the finished degree sits in the same automatic recognition system.

That is why the EU or non-EU question deserves an early answer. If your plan is to practise in Germany, Austria or another EU country, a degree from an EU member state is the most direct route, and Varna is a partner university where students can complete the final practical year in Germany through Medschool Experts. The same is possible from Foca in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

If your plan is the United States, the logic changes. There the relevant path runs through the USMLE, United States clinical rotations and residency, which is what Mostar School of Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Caribbean medical schools are built for. Recognition rules differ by country and change over time, so check the current position with the competent authority in the country where you intend to work.

When should University of Crete students start planning a transfer?

Earlier than most people do. A student at the University of Crete, Faculty of Medicine in Heraklion, Greece should speak to Medschool Experts as soon as the thought appears, because entry year depends on what has been passed, and the picture changes with every exam session. A conversation in October is worth more than one in August.

Waiting has a cost. If two exams are outstanding now, that is workable. If five are outstanding after another year of drift, the achievable entry year drops and time is lost that nobody gets back. The review is free and it commits you to nothing.

So the advice is simple: ask early, decide slowly. Book a free consultation and find out what your Heraklion transcript is actually worth.