Dentistry: Charité Berlin or MU Sofia? Interview with Kristina

What does the interview with Kristina show about the transfer from Charité to Sofia?

Kristina started her dentistry degree at Charité in Berlin and continued it at the Medical University of Sofia. In the 2018 interview, she compares both faculties: the structure of the pre-clinical years, class sizes, the language of instruction, and settling into an unfamiliar city. Her passed coursework from Berlin was recognised, and she entered her second year of study.

The video has been on my YouTube channel since 23 November 2018: Interview: Studying Dentistry at Charité Berlin vs. MU Sofia. It's one of the first interviews I filmed with students on the ground back then.

Which semester could Kristina enter after transferring?

In 2018, Kristina entered the third semester at the Medical University of Sofia – her second year of study. The subjects and courses she had passed in Berlin were taken into account. She didn't have to start from scratch. For her, that was the decisive factor.

One caveat belongs here: this is Kristina's case from 2018, not an automatic guarantee. The scope of credit transfer and the entry semester are always decided by the receiving university on a case-by-case basis, and study plans have changed at several locations since then. Anyone considering a transfer today should have their own academic record assessed rather than relying on an eight-year-old example. That's exactly what we do in a free consultation.

How much hands-on craft is involved in the pre-clinical years of dentistry?

The pre-clinical years in dentistry demand two things at once: scientific knowledge and fine motor skill. In the phantom-head courses, students prepare, model, and mill on models, often working to a tenth of a millimetre. Being good at memorising facts alone won't get you through. That's true at every dental faculty in Europe.

I went through this part of the programme myself in Sofia between 2015 and 2021, and I still remember evenings in the phantom-head lab rebuilding the same wax model for the fourth time. The class size helped me. With around ten students per instructor, someone is watching while you work, not just once the finished result is on the table. Kristina describes the same impression in the interview.

How did Kristina settle into life in Sofia?

In the interview, Kristina describes settling into Sofia as a transition that took time: a new city, an unfamiliar language, an international programme taught in English. After the first few months, Sofia was no longer a stopgap for her but a place to study with its own appeal. In the video, she also explains why she chose Sofia specifically.

My own first day in Sofia was less romantic. I only knew the city from photos, had no contact with students on the ground, and no one to ask. That's exactly why these videos exist today. I wanted to make sure no one else would have to decide blind.

Up to which year of study is a transfer in dentistry possible today?

In dentistry, a transfer within Europe is possible up to the fourth year of study; in human medicine, up to the fifth. Entering the final year of study is ruled out everywhere in Europe, because the graduating university carries the training responsibility for the degree and needs more than a single year of its own to fulfil it.

In practice, that means the window is wide, but it's closing. Someone who realises in year three that their location isn't the right fit has more options than someone in year five. It's better to have that conversation too early than too late, even if the outcome is a decision not to transfer. For how a transfer like this works in detail, see our article Transferring within Europe.

What has changed since the 2018 interview?

Eight years have passed since the interview, and a few things have changed. I completed my dentistry degree in Sofia in 2021. Bulgaria introduced the euro on 1 January 2026, at a fixed rate of 1.95583.

The range of options has changed too. In 2018, Sofia was the obvious choice for German-speaking students looking for an NC-free dentistry programme. Today, locations in Bulgaria, Croatia, Romania, Poland, Hungary, the Baltics, Malta, and Bosnia all sit side by side, with very different fees and languages of instruction. For an overview, see the article Dentistry Without NC Abroad.

My take: Transferring mid-degree is noticeably more common today than in 2018, and I expect that trend to continue. That's an observation from our own advisory work at Medschool Experts, not a statistically proven trend. As far as I know, there are no solid figures on how many German dentistry students transfer to EU countries during their studies. Official statistics record enrolment, not transfer pathways.

Is a dentistry degree from Bulgaria recognised in Germany and Switzerland?

Yes. The Bulgarian dentistry degree is listed under Annex V, item 5.3.2 of Directive 2005/36/EC and is therefore automatically recognised across the EU. In Germany, the path leads through the relevant state authority to full licensure (Approbation). In Switzerland, MEBEKO grants recognition for Swiss or EU/EFTA nationals, with proof of B2-level language skills and a fee of around 800 to 1,000 Swiss francs (roughly €840–1,050).

I went through this process myself. So the degree isn't just a ticket into Germany – it opens the door to the entire EU and EFTA area. Which location fits which career plan is something we work out together in a free initial consultation.