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

What is the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, and what does it teach in English?

The University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine is a state faculty in the Croatian port city of Rijeka, founded in 1955. It runs a six-year integrated Medicine in English programme of 360 ECTS credits that leads to the degree Doctor of Medicine. For the 2026/2027 academic year the faculty lists 50 study places and a tuition fee of 12,000 euros.

The fee is calculated per credit: 200 euros per ECTS credit, 60 credits per academic year. Over six years that comes to 72,000 euros in tuition alone. Living costs in Rijeka run at roughly 500 to 700 euros per month on our own figures for 2026, which adds something like 36,000 to 50,400 euros across the full programme. That is real money.

Dentistry in English exists at the University of Rijeka as well, but under the Faculty of Dental Medicine rather than the Faculty of Medicine. It is also a six-year programme, the 2026/2027 fee is 12,000 euros per year, payable in two instalments of 6,000 euros, and the intake is small at 12 places. Croatian language teaching runs alongside the English programme in the first two years and matters once clinical work begins.

Can you transfer from the University of Rijeka to another university?

Yes. Students who have completed semesters at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine in Croatia can continue medicine at another university rather than starting again from the first year. Medschool Experts arranges these transfers as a specialist service, matching a student’s completed credits against the curricula of our official partner universities.

The work happens on paper first. We look at which subjects you have passed, how many ECTS credits sit behind them, and which partner university recognises that block most generously. No document lists here, no deadlines, no entrance-exam formats. You send us your situation and we check your profile against the partner network. That check is free.

One rule matters more than any other: stay enrolled in Rijeka until your new place is confirmed in writing. Nobody should give up a study place on a hope. We plan the switch so that the two enrolments overlap cleanly.

Why do students transfer from the University of Rijeka?

Five reasons come up again and again, and none of them is a complaint about the faculty in Rijeka. They are questions of fit and planning: total cost over six years, the format and pace of specific examinations, personal or organisational circumstances, a career goal in the United States, and a career goal in Germany.

Each of these is a reason to plan, not a reason to panic. What they share is timing: the earlier we look at the record, the more options remain open. Start early.

Where can University of Rijeka students transfer to?

The destination depends on the goal, not on a ranking. Students leaving the University of Rijeka in Croatia usually pick one of four directions: a more affordable university, a university whose examination style fits them better, a route built around the United States, or a route built around Germany. Medschool Experts holds official partner agreements in all four directions.

Cost is only one axis. The full list of locations we work with is on our partner universities page. Croatia-specific timing, credit recognition and the practical sequence are set out in our country guide, transferring university in Croatia without losing time.

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

The saving is easiest to see on tuition. The University of Rijeka lists 12,000 euros per academic year for the 2026/2027 Medicine in English programme. The Faculty of Medicine Foca in Bosnia and Herzegovina charges 3,500 euros per year, and around 7,500 euros per year covers tuition and living costs together on our own 2026 figures.

Read the last row carefully. It is arithmetic on published figures, not a promise, and it assumes three years still to run and no loss of time in the switch. Your own number depends on how many semesters you have behind you and which entry year we secure. We calculate it with you before anything is signed. Foca is only one of several affordable partner universities.

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

There is no fixed cap. Medschool Experts regularly achieves high placements for students coming from the University of Rijeka and comparable European faculties, often into year four or year five. Every case is reviewed individually, and the aim is always the highest possible entry with no or minimal loss of time.

As a rule of thumb, a clean transfer works best when no more than two examinations are still outstanding, and when the ECTS credits behind those outstanding examinations stay below a maximum. That is a guide, not a gate. Records that look awkward on paper have turned into good placements more than once.

What decides the year is the content you have already passed, credit by credit. Anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and the clinical blocks all carry different weight at different partner universities, which is why we compare several before recommending one. Send us the record and we will tell you where it lands.

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

Four steps, in this order, and the first two cost nothing. A free consultation about your goal and your situation, a review of your academic record against our partner curricula, a concrete placement offer naming the university and the entry year, and then the switch itself, planned so that you stay enrolled in Rijeka until the new place is confirmed.

That is the whole process. You can read what that looks like from the student side on our student stories page, and the scope of what we handle is described under our services. More than 500 students have gone through this process with us.

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Does the EU degree matter when you transfer away from the University of Rijeka?

It matters, and it is worth understanding before choosing a destination. Croatia has been a member of the European Union since 1 July 2013, and Croatian medical diplomas are listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC, which means automatic recognition across the European Union and the European Economic Area without an equivalence assessment.

If you transfer to another university inside the European Union, that mechanism simply carries over. The Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria is an example: Bulgaria is an EU member state, its medical diploma is covered by the same directive, and students there can do the final practical year in Germany through Medschool Experts.

If you transfer to a university outside the European Union, such as the Faculty of Medicine Foca or Mostar School of Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the degree is assessed nationally instead of recognised automatically. German authorities run an equivalence procedure for such diplomas, and graduates from both universities do take that route. It is a different path, not a closed one. Both routes work. Which one suits you depends entirely on where you intend to work, and that is the first thing we ask.

When should University of Rijeka students start planning a transfer?

Earlier than most people think. The best moment to talk to us is while you are still enrolled at the University of Rijeka and still sitting examinations, because every subject you pass before the switch is a subject that can be credited at the receiving university and can lift your entry year.

Practically, that means a first conversation in the semester before you want to move, not in the week after a result you did not expect. An early conversation costs nothing and closes no doors. If you decide to stay in Rijeka, that is a perfectly good outcome too.

Keep your transcript of records complete and current from the first semester onwards. It is the single document that determines how much of your work travels with you. Collect it as you go.