Studying Medicine at the Academy of Silesia in Katowice

Katowice at a glance

Katowice lies in the south of Poland and is the centre of the Upper Silesian metropolitan region. The city itself has around 280,000 inhabitants; roughly two million people live in the conurbation. For a medical degree that is a good starting position: many large hospitals in a small area, short distances, dense transport links. The overview below summarises the hard facts about the Academy of Silesia.

Two things lead to misunderstandings particularly often at this location. First the name: there are two institutions with medical training in Katowice, and the figures for one do not apply to the other. Second the geography: Katowice is the seat of the institution, but part of the clinical teaching takes place in Zabrze, around 20 kilometres to the west. Both places are in the same conurbation and are connected by rail and tram, but for your search for accommodation it makes a difference.

University and hospital

The Academy of Silesia is a private higher education institution based in Katowice. It grew out of the Wyższa Szkoła Techniczna founded in 2001 and has carried the name Akademia Śląska since 2022. The medical programme is located at the Prof. Zbigniew Religa Faculty of Medical Sciences, named after the cardiac surgeon who made medical history in Upper Silesia. Teaching is spread across Katowice and Zabrze. Important for your research: this institution is not the state Medical University of Silesia. Both train doctors in the same city, but they are separate institutions with their own procedures and their own fees.

The Polish accreditation commission PKA gave the programme a positive programme assessment in April 2026, having examined staff, teaching infrastructure and the organisation of the programme. That same commission is the body that matters internationally: on 12 September 2025 the PKA received full recognition from the World Federation for Medical Education, valid until 30 September 2035. That is not a formality. Since 1 January 2023 the ECFMG has certified only graduates of faculties accredited by a WFME-recognised agency, and without that certificate there is no route into US residency training.

The institution does not run its own university hospital in the German sense. Clinical teaching takes place at established hospitals in the Silesian Voivodeship, whose doctors also work as university teachers, supplemented by a centre for medical simulation and an e-learning platform for pathology. I like this model better than it sounds at first. Anyone who from the third year onwards works alongside staff in hospitals that handle emergencies daily from a region of two million people sees more clinical presentations than in many a quiet teaching clinic.

For you this means concretely: the programme is state-approved, externally assessed and internationally compatible. The private ownership changes nothing about this, because in the European Union the recognition of your degree does not depend on whether an institution is publicly or privately funded but on whether the degree is listed in the professional qualifications directive. It is.

Which programmes are available and in which language?

The faculty trains only doctors of human medicine. Dentistry, pharmacy or veterinary medicine are not available at the Academy of Silesia. The programme is run in two language variants; for German-speaking applicants, the English variant is the route.

The title lekarz is the Polish medical title and is listed in Annex V number 5.1.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC, in the version of Delegated Decision (EU) 2023/2383 of 23 May 2023, applicable since 9 October 2023. It is precisely this listing that means your degree will later be recognised without a case-by-case assessment. Polish courses are part of the study plan in the English-language programme from the outset, because patients in Katowice and Zabrze speak Polish. That is genuine additional work alongside anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, and you should take it seriously from the start.

How does admission work?

There is no numerus clausus as in Germany. The basic requirement is the general higher education entrance qualification. Selection is based on your final school grades in biology and one further science subject. If the grades are not sufficient or not comparable, you instead sit entrance tests in biology and chemistry. What is tested is upper secondary school material, nothing beyond it. Added to this is English at B2 level, because the programme runs in English.

Registration, application and the admissions procedure are organised for you by Medschool Experts. The whole process is usually possible entirely online, so you do not have to travel to Katowice for the procedure. We take care of the documents.

We prepare you specifically for the subject-matter part, in biology as well as in chemistry. We go through the topics that are actually asked and practise the test format until nothing surprises you on the day of the examination. We also train for the motivational interview, because there it is less about memorised material than about whether you can explain why you want to study medicine and why at this location. Whether your grades are enough for direct admission or whether we should plan for the test route is something we assess individually in a free consultation.

A practical advantage of this location: the programme starts in the winter semester and in the summer semester. Among European locations that is not a given, and it can save you half a year of waiting if one application round does not work out.

A realistic look at the timetable belongs here too. Between the initial consultation and the start of studies there are usually several months in our experience, during which application, test preparation where needed, and enrolment interlock. Because there are two start dates per year, this period can be planned in both directions: those who begin in spring start in the summer semester, and those who decide in summer aim for the winter round.

What does the programme cost?

The Academy of Silesia's fees are staged by academic year and are identical for EU and non-EU citizens. The following figures appear as such in the fee schedule of the Prof. Zbigniew Religa Faculty for the academic year 2026/2027.

On top come a one-off application fee of EUR 30 and an enrolment fee of EUR 200 for applicants from EU states. Adding up the twelve semesters gives a total sum you should know from the outset. The compilation below is my own estimate based on the official fees and our experience of living costs, not an assurance from the institution.

Not included are textbooks, lab coats and working materials, as well as trips home and journeys between Katowice and Zabrze. For context I have compared the semester fee with other Polish locations from our series; the comparison figures come from Medschool Experts research.

In the first four semesters the Academy of Silesia is therefore below the Polish middle range, and from the fifth academic year above it. Anyone who looks only at the starting fee calculates the location as cheaper than it is.

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On financing: because Poland belongs to the European Union, the German study-abroad grant (Auslands-BAfög) is in principle available; responsibility lies with one particular education funding office and not automatically with your home office. Alongside this, many students use education loans, scholarships or a combination of several elements. What matters is that your planning covers all twelve semesters and already includes the two fee increases in the third and fifth academic year.

How is the programme structured?

The programme comprises twelve semesters and around 360 ECTS credits. Its structure follows the classic European pattern of pre-clinical phase, clinical phase and a practical final year.

Clinical electives can also be completed in Germany during the semester breaks. The body with which you later apply for your licence decides on their recognition, so it is worth asking there early rather than improvising at the end.

The Polish courses run in parallel with the pre-clinical material and are not an add-on. By the clinical phase at the latest, your language level determines how much you take away from a ward round. Anyone who uses the first two years to build up everyday Polish is noticeably better placed from the third academic year. That is my most important practical recommendation for this location.

Where may you work as a doctor with this degree?

Poland is a member of the European Union, so the professional qualifications directive 2005/36/EC applies. The title lekarz is listed in Annex V number 5.1.1 and is automatically recognised in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. An equivalence assessment is not required, nor is a knowledge examination.

One point is often confused: LEK and Staż are prerequisites for professional licensing in Poland. They are not required for the German licence. If you want to go straight to Germany after graduating, you need neither.

Dentist, pharmacist, psychologist, vet: the legal position by profession

Dentist. The Academy of Silesia does not offer dentistry. In principle, the same automatic recognition applies to Polish dentists; the degree lekarz dentysta appears in Annex V number 5.3.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC. Anyone wanting to study dentistry is in the right place at another location in our series; which one fits we clarify in a free consultation.

Pharmacist. Pharmacy is likewise not part of the faculty's offering. The profession is harmonised EU-wide, the Polish degree magister farmacji is listed in Annex V number 5.6.2 and is therefore also automatically recognised. In Germany you apply for the licence as a pharmacist to the competent state authority.

Psychologist. Psychology and psychotherapy are not harmonised in the European Union. There is no Annex V entry for them and therefore no automatic recognition. Anyone coming from abroad goes through a case-by-case assessment, and separate training and examination rules apply in Germany for the licence as a psychotherapist.

Vet. Veterinary medicine is not taught at this institution in Katowice. The profession is harmonised, the Polish degree lekarz weterynarii appears in Annex V number 5.4.2, so recognition in Germany is automatic. Within Poland, the route runs through faculties in other cities.

Career paths after graduation

With the title lekarz you apply in Germany, Austria and Switzerland for specialist training posts, on an equal footing with graduates of German faculties. Specialist training then follows the training regulations of the respective state medical chamber, and your choice of study location no longer plays a role. What counts are your transcript, your clinical electives and the impression you make in the interview.

Outside the hospital, too, the usual routes are open to you: private practice after completing specialist training, research and a doctorate, the public health service, occupational medicine, the pharmaceutical industry or medical technology. Staying in Poland is equally possible, then through LEK and Staż. Which options an EU medical degree opens up worldwide we have described in detail in our guide to career paths with an EU medical degree.

For starting out in Germany, what counts in practice is how early you apply and how well you have documented your practical periods. Many hospitals review applications for specialist training posts one to two semesters before graduation. Anyone who can point to clinical electives in Germany at that stage has a concrete reference point in the conversation and does not have to explain their study location.

Lateral entry, transfer and returning to Germany

The Academy of Silesia works with the European ECTS system and issues you a Transcript of Records documenting your achievements. A transfer to a German faculty is therefore possible, but it is not automatic: each institution decides for itself which achievements it credits, and free places in higher subject semesters are scarce in Germany. Many students therefore stay in Katowice until graduation and only move to Germany for specialist training.

The other way round, entry with prior credits also works. Anyone who has already accumulated semesters in another European programme can have it assessed whether admission to a higher subject semester comes into question. In our consultations I regularly see applicants raising this route too late and then losing a semester they could have saved. Raise it early, and we will check it with the faculty.

Living in Katowice: city, distances, costs

Katowice was shaped for decades by hard coal mining and is today a services and congress location. On the site of the former Katowice colliery stand the Silesian Museum and the concert hall of the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra. Katowice-Pyrzowice airport is around 30 kilometres to the north, and you reach Krakow by train in about an hour and a half. Travelling home to Germany is therefore straightforward.

On housing you are dealing with a relaxed market. For Katowice in August 2026, Numbeo reports around 2,700 złoty monthly rent for a one-room flat in the centre and around 2,000 złoty outside it; a monthly pass for local transport costs 120 złoty. In a shared flat you are well below that. Overall you should reckon with EUR 500 to 700 per month for rent, food, insurance and local transport.

A note from practice: when looking for accommodation, pay attention to how you get to Zabrze, because part of the teaching takes place there. At the start of the semester the rental market becomes noticeably busier; those who search early have a choice. We support you on the ground with the search for accommodation, enrolment and dealings with the authorities.

Part of everyday life here is that Katowice is a young city. Several tens of thousands of people study in the metropolitan region, and the range of sport, culture and clubs is correspondingly large. German-speaking students quickly find their footing here, because the English-language year groups are internationally mixed and the working language in the course is English anyway.

Who this location suits

The Academy of Silesia suits you if you want to study in English, appreciate a second start date in the year and feel at home in a large conurbation where clinical daily life is visible from the beginning. It also suits you if your science grades are solid but your overall school leaving grade was not enough for a place in Germany. Anyone who is looking from the outset for the lowest semester fee in Poland will find more affordable addresses in our series.

My assessment: I regard Katowice as an undervalued location. The combination of an English-language programme, two study starts per year, a positive PKA assessment and a clinical environment with two million people in the catchment area is rarely found this compactly. Whether your profile works here is something we look at together – get in touch for a free consultation.