Study Medicine in Cuba vs Europe: What South Africans Need to Know (2027)

Study medicine in Cuba: how it works for South Africans

The programme is a government arrangement between South Africa and Cuba. It is built to train doctors for the public health system, which is why the selection criteria look the way they do: South African citizens, living in the province, aged 18 to 30, without a place at another institution and without another bursary.

The number of seats has moved a lot. Gauteng sent 264 students in 2019, and the figure fell to 25 in 2021. A student planning around a Cuban place should treat it as a government allocation, not as an application that any qualified school leaver can make.

Cuba vs Europe compared

Language: Spanish or English

Lectures, clinical teaching and examinations in Cuba are in Spanish. Students who do not speak it start with a preparatory Spanish course before the medical years begin. Patients speak Spanish too, so the language has to be good enough for history taking and for examinations.

At the English-taught medical schools in Europe, the degree is delivered in English. Patient contact in the clinical years happens in the local language, and the universities teach it alongside the degree. Which language suits you is a practical question: a Spanish year is an investment of time, and some students prefer to spend it in the lecture hall.

Costs: government programme or family budget

For a family, the Cuban route costs little, and the price is the set of conditions that come with a government place. In Europe the costs are visible from the start, and so is the start date.

HPCSA recognition and the way home

Recognition of the Cuban degree is settled for the government programme. For a degree from a European university the steps are the same ones every South African foreign graduate follows: verification, board examination, internship, community service. Each step, with the fees, is in our HPCSA board exam and registration guide.

Study medicine in Europe in English

Students who do not receive a Cuban place, or who prefer English, study at English-taught medical schools in Europe. The degree takes six years, the academic year starts in September or October, and our partner universities decide on the school certificate, not on a national ranking list. Countries, costs and the timetable from January to October are in our guide to studying medicine abroad from South Africa.

Students who were turned down at home find the five realistic options in not accepted for medicine in South Africa. South African applicants reach us fastest through the South Africa page.