Studying Medicine in Brno: Costs, Structure and Recognition

Brno at a glance

Brno lies in the south-east of the Czech Republic, around an hour and a half from Vienna and two and a half hours from Prague. The Faculty of Medicine of Masaryk University has trained doctors here for over a hundred years and runs human medicine and dentistry as separate English-language programmes. Anyone interested in studying medicine in the Czech Republic almost inevitably ends up looking at Brno and Prague. The table below summarises what matters for the decision.

The faculty has no numerus clausus. An overall picture of the neighbouring locations can be found in our round-up article Studying medicine in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Your place through Medschool Experts

Medschool Experts is an official contract partner of Masaryk University and places students from a fixed quota of study places. Your path to a place in Brno is therefore plannable. The entrance test in biology, chemistry, and physics is organised through us. We tell you which topics come up, prepare you specifically for all three subjects, and guide you through the application, documents, and enrolment up to the start of your studies.

University and hospital

Masaryk University was founded in 1919 and has around 25,000 students across ten faculties, making it one of the largest universities in the Czech Republic. The Faculty of Medicine is not in the old town but in the Bohunice district, where teaching, research, and the clinic sit on a single connected campus. That proximity is a concrete advantage: minutes separate the lecture hall, the simulation centre, and the ward, not tram journeys.

The heart of the campus is the SIMU simulation centre, completed in 2020 and the largest of its kind in the Czech Republic. The five-storey building is fitted out like a hospital, with operating theatres, intensive care bays, and a helipad on the roof. One entire floor is dedicated to dentistry, and there is also an emergency simulation centre, pre-clinical training rooms, and surgical simulation rooms. Students practise procedures there before they stand at a patient's side.

Clinical teaching takes place at five university hospitals with a combined 3,150 teaching beds. The largest of them is University Hospital Brno, by its own account the second-largest hospital in the Czech Republic, with sites for adult medicine in Bohunice, paediatrics in Černá Pole, and reproductive medicine at Obilní trh.

What strikes me about Brno is how early daily life with real patients begins and how naturally the simulation centre is built into the timetable. That is not a brochure feature but something graduates raise unprompted in conversation. Anyone learning anatomy and physiology in an environment where the ward is a ten-minute walk away connects theory and practice earlier.

Which programmes are offered, and in which language?

The Faculty of Medicine offers international students two programmes, both entirely in English: human medicine and dentistry. These are not translations of the Czech programme but separate programmes with their own timetables and their own examinations. There are 200 places a year in human medicine and 25 in dentistry; about half the class comes from the EU, the other half from countries such as Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada, and the United Arab Emirates.

English at B2 level is required. Everyone learns medical terminology only once they start the degree anyway, including Czech classmates. Anyone bringing solid foundations from upper secondary school will keep up after a few weeks. Alongside that you take Czech as a compulsory course, because in the clinical stage you talk to Czech-speaking patients at the Brno university hospitals.

In practice this means two languages side by side. In English you attend lectures, read textbooks, and sit examinations; in Czech you later hold the patient conversation on the ward. Dentistry differs above all in its practical component: it is a year shorter but considerably more hands-on earlier, with work on the phantom head from the second year.

What does the programme cost?

The tuition fee is the largest item. It is 15,000 EUR per year in human medicine and 16,000 EUR per year in dentistry, paid per semester in two instalments, in September and in February.

Then there is living. For rent, food, transport, and insurance you should budget 550 to 800 EUR a month depending on your housing choice. Projected over the full length of the programme, this gives the following estimate for human medicine: 90,000 EUR in fees plus 39,600 to 57,600 EUR in living costs over 72 months, so around 130,000 to 148,000 EUR in total. For dentistry the estimate is around 113,000 to 128,000 EUR. These are deliberately rounded figures: your housing arrangement and your own lifestyle move the total noticeably.

Auslands-BAföG is possible in principle for the Czech Republic as an EU country; the tuition supplement it provides does not, however, cover the 15,000 EUR a year. Many families therefore combine state funding, an education loan, and their own means.

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How is the programme structured?

Human medicine lasts six years and comprises 360 ECTS credits. The structure follows the classic European pattern: foundation subjects first, then the clinic, and finally a practical year.

The examination load is heavy, particularly in the two pre-clinical years with anatomy and biochemistry, and resits are provided for. The sixth year corresponds in structure and scope to the German Praktisches Jahr. Clinical placements in Germany, Austria, or Switzerland are possible during the holidays; whether they are credited is decided by the faculty under its examination regulations. At the end comes the title MUDr., or the MDDr. in dentistry.

Where may you work as a doctor with this degree?

The Czech Republic is a member state of the European Union, and the MUDr. from Masaryk University appears in Annex V of the Professional Qualifications Directive 2005/36/EC under number 5.1.1, in the version of Delegated Decision (EU) 2023/2383 of 23 May 2023, applicable since 9 October 2023. That means automatic recognition within the EU, without a knowledge examination.

The USA point deserves explanation, because it is often misrepresented. Since 1 January 2023 the ECFMG has required the home faculty to be accredited by an accreditation agency holding WFME recognition. For the Czech Republic that is the National Accreditation Bureau for Higher Education; it holds WFME recognition status running until January 2035. The requirement is therefore met.

Working in England after studying Medicine in Brno

The Faculty of Medicine cooperates with renowned English hospitals, including King's College Hospital in London and hospitals in Liverpool. Recruiters from these hospitals come directly to the university, hold selection interviews on campus, and present job offers for the time after graduation.

Dentist, pharmacist, psychologist, veterinarian: the legal position for each profession

Dentist. Dentistry in Brno lasts five years and ends with the MDDr. That title appears in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC under number 5.3.2 and is recognised automatically in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland in the same way as the medical degree.

Pharmacist. Pharmacy is not among the English-language programmes of the Faculty of Medicine in Brno. In legal terms the position would be comparable: the pharmacy degree is harmonised via Annex V number 5.6.2 and would be automatically recognised within the EU. Which pharmacy locations come into question is something we assess individually in a free consultation.

Psychologist. Psychology and psychotherapy are not harmonised under European law. There is no Annex V entry and therefore no automatic recognition. Anyone wanting to work in psychology or psychotherapy goes through a separate recognition procedure in Germany, which the competent state authority assesses case by case.

Veterinarian. Veterinary medicine in Brno is based at a separate institution and is not part of Masaryk University. For this profession, Annex V number 5.4.2 applies: a veterinary degree from an EU member state is automatically recognised in Germany. Which veterinary locations we work with is something we discuss in a free consultation.

Career paths after graduation

With the MUDr. and the German Approbation you begin specialist training at a hospital or in a practice with training authorisation, on the same terms as graduates of German faculties. You choose the specialty freely. By the second year of specialist training at the latest, nobody asks where you studied anyway; they ask what you can do.

Nor does it have to be Germany. The degree entitles you to practise medicine throughout the EU, a career start in England is possible through the faculty's cooperations, and Brno itself is a location with strong clinical ties where many stay on. Anyone wanting to work academically can do a doctorate at Masaryk University or move into a research group.

How far a European medical degree carries is set out in detail in Career paths with an EU medical degree.

Lateral entry, transfers, and switching back to Germany

Lateral entry into a higher semester is not the norm at Masaryk University. If you have already accumulated semesters in another medical programme, the faculty assesses the content individually. Raise this case early and we will clarify it in advance.

In the other direction: a transfer from Brno to a German faculty is possible, but not automatic. The receiving university has to credit your work, and a place has to be free in the appropriate higher semester. Both are decided by the German university.

In practice this means: request your Transcript of Records every academic year. How credit recognition and applications for a higher semester work in detail is set out in our article on switching back to Germany.

Living in Brno: city, housing, costs

Brno is the capital of Moravia, has around 380,000 inhabitants, and with up to 80,000 students during the academic year counts as the Czech Republic's student city. The city is young, compact, and considerably quieter than Prague, and it is one of the safest cities in the world.

You have four housing options: the university's modern halls of residence for around 200 EUR a month (double room), a modern private premium hall of residence with a single room for 400 to 500 EUR, a shared two-person flat in the city for around 300 EUR per person, or your own flat for around 450 EUR. Most of our German students pay around 300 EUR in rent. Together with food, transport, and insurance you land at 550 to 800 EUR a month. We help you on the ground with the housing search, enrolment, and dealings with the authorities in the first weeks.

What I like about Brno is the accessibility. Vienna is around an hour and a half away, Prague about two and a half. That is plenty for a weekend at home or a visit from your parents.

Who this location suits

Brno suits you if you are looking for an English-language degree in the EU that is accessible without a numerus clausus and whose qualification is recognised in Germany without a detour. It suits you if you want a plannable path to a place, one we walk with you as the university's contract partner. And it suits you if you prefer a compact city with short distances to a metropolis.

The programme starts in the winter semester; there is no summer semester intake. Anyone wanting to start flexibly can discuss alternatives at other partner universities with us.

My assessment: Brno is one of the most balanced locations in our programme, because modern teaching, a large hospital network, cooperations as far as England, and an affordable price level in the city come together. The quickest way to settle your case is together, in a free consultation.