Transfer from Vilnius University: Where to Continue Medicine or Dentistry in 2026

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

Vilnius University (Vilniaus universitetas) was founded in 1579 and is the oldest university in Lithuania. Its Faculty of Medicine was established on 24 November 1781. In English the faculty teaches Medicine, six years and 360 ECTS, and Dentistry, five years and 300 ECTS. Both programmes run in Vilnius.

The medical programme awards the degree Medical Doctor, Master in Health Sciences. Dentistry awards Dental doctor in Odontology, Master in Health Sciences. For the 2026/2027 academic year Vilnius University publishes a tuition fee of €14,100 per year for Medicine in English and €15,000 per year for Dentistry in English. Studies begin in the autumn semester. Our own Vilnius University page lists living costs in the city at roughly €650 to €850 per month, which is in line with the ranges Lithuanian universities publish for student housing, food and a monthly transport pass.

Can you transfer from Vilnius University to another medical or dental faculty?

Yes. A student at Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine in Vilnius, Lithuania can move to another medical or dental faculty and continue with the ECTS credits and exams already passed. Medschool Experts arranges these transfers as its core work, across a partner network that spans the European Union, the Western Balkans and the Caribbean.

What matters is your record, not your nationality or your entry route into Vilnius. We look at the subjects you have completed, the credits attached to them, and what is still open. From that we tell you which partner faculties can take you and at which point in their curriculum. No document lists, no deadlines, no exam formats here. Send us your record and we check it against the network.

Why do students transfer from Vilnius University?

Five reasons cover almost every case we see at Vilnius University in Lithuania, and none of them is a complaint about the teaching. They are questions of fit, money and long-term career planning, and each of them has a concrete answer inside our partner network.

Cost. At €14,100 per year for medicine and €15,000 per year for dentistry in 2026/2027, plus living costs in Vilnius, the full programme adds up. A more affordable partner university can cut that sharply. The clearest example is the Faculty of Medicine Foča, part of the University of East Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina: €3,500 tuition per year and about €7,500 per year in total including living costs (Medschool Experts figures, 2026). Several other partner universities sit in a similar range.

Specific exams. Some students pass most subjects comfortably and keep stalling on one or two. A different faculty with a different exam format and pace can unlock the rest of the degree. This is our speciality, and we treat it as a matching problem rather than a failure.

Personal and organisational reasons. A difficult situation with an individual professor, a family matter, a move for a partner, health in the family. These things happen and they are reason enough.

A career in the United States. Caribbean medical schools are built around the US system: USMLE preparation, US clinical rotations, and residency applications. In Europe, Mostar School of Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only university that specifically prepares students for the USMLE, Step 1 for the preclinical part and Step 2 CK for the clinical part.

A career in Germany. Some faculties prepare unusually well for the German system. The University of East Sarajevo in Foča is one. Inside the European Union, the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria is another, and through Medschool Experts students there can complete the final practical year in Germany. The same is possible from Foča.

Where can Vilnius University students transfer to?

The answer depends on your goal, not on a ranking. A student leaving Vilnius University in Lithuania for cost reasons needs a different destination than one aiming at a residency in the United States. The table below maps the four goals we hear most onto faculties in the Medschool Experts network, with the subjects each one actually teaches.

Dentistry students should note one thing. Not every option teaches dentistry. Foča and Varna do. Mostar and the Caribbean schools are medicine options only. Pharmacy is available at Varna. Our services page sets out what we handle for you and what stays with you.

How much can a Vilnius University student save by transferring?

The gap is large enough to change plans. Medicine in English at Vilnius University costs €14,100 per year in 2026/2027 and dentistry €15,000 per year. Tuition at the Faculty of Medicine Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina is €3,500 per year, with about €7,500 per year in total including living costs (Medschool Experts, 2026).

Now the arithmetic. A medical student who leaves Vilnius University after three years and enters year 4 in Foča pays €3,500 a year for the remaining three years, so €10,500 in tuition. The same three years in Vilnius would come to €42,300 at the 2026/2027 rate. The difference is about €31,800, before living costs. Entering year 4 at the Medical University of Varna instead gives €9,100, €9,000 and €9,000 for years 4, 5 and 6, so €27,100 in total and a saving of roughly €15,200 with an EU degree at the end.

Living costs move the picture further. Vilnius runs at roughly €650 to €850 per month according to our own figures for the city. Foča is covered by the €7,500 per year total. Ask us for the current living-cost range at the faculty you are considering, because these numbers change.

Which year can you enter after leaving Vilnius University?

There is no fixed ceiling. Medschool Experts frequently achieves high placements for students leaving Vilnius University in Lithuania, often into year 4 or year 5, and every case is reviewed individually. The aim is always the highest possible entry point with no loss of time, or as little as possible.

The rule of thumb we work with: usually no more than two exams may still be outstanding, and the ECTS attached to them has to stay below a maximum. Beyond that, the decision depends on how your completed subjects map onto the receiving curriculum. Two students with the same number of years behind them can land in different years. That is normal. Real examples of how this plays out are collected on our student stories page.

How does a transfer from Vilnius University work with Medschool Experts?

Four steps, and you stay enrolled at Vilnius University, Faculty of Medicine in Lithuania until your new place is confirmed. Nothing is given up on a maybe. The whole point of the sequence below is that you always have a place to be while the next one is being arranged.

1. Free consultation. We talk through your subject, your year, your goal and your budget.
2. Record review. We check your completed subjects, credits and open exams against our partner faculties.
3. Placement offer. You receive concrete options with the entry year, the subject and the fee for each.
4. The switch, with a plan. You accept one, we handle the transfer, and you leave Vilnius only once the new place is fixed.

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Is a Vilnius University degree recognised, and what changes if you continue elsewhere?

Lithuania is in the European Union, so the six-year Medical Doctor and the five-year dental degree from Vilnius University are recognised across the EU and the EEA and in Switzerland under Directive 2005/36/EC, without an equivalence test. That framework is the thing to check for any destination, and it is where the options differ.

Inside the EU the picture stays the same: a medical or dental degree from the Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria carries the same automatic recognition under Directive 2005/36/EC. Bosnia and Herzegovina is not an EU member, so a degree from Foča or Mostar is recognised through the recognition procedure of the country where you want to work rather than automatically. In practice that means an application to the competent authority, proof of language ability at professional level, and processing times that vary by country. Many of our students take that route deliberately, either because of the cost or because of the USMLE preparation in Mostar. We will tell you plainly which procedure applies to the country you have in mind before you decide.

When should Vilnius University students start planning a transfer?

As early as the thought is serious. Students who contact Medschool Experts while they are still passing exams at Vilnius University in Lithuania usually get the highest entry year, because a clean, recent record is the strongest argument a transfer file can have. Waiting until a year has been lost narrows the options.

Practically: the earlier we see your transcript, the more faculties are still open, and the better the timing fits the autumn intake at the receiving university. There is also a quota question. Mostar has only 30 places per year, and our own allocation there is finite. A conversation costs nothing and commits you to nothing. Get in touch and we will look at your record.