Rīga Stradiņš University: Studying Medicine in Latvia

What distinguishes Rīga Stradiņš University?

Rīga Stradiņš University is Latvia's leading medical institution: 12,474 students, 63 study programmes and 35 clinical training sites. It was founded on 1 September 1950. The university teaches medicine and dentistry in English, and the staff-to-student ratio is one teacher to ten students.

One figure in this table is stated differently elsewhere, and there is an explainable reason for that. 3,146 of 12,474 students is around 25 percent; various rankings quote up to 35 percent. The difference arises from the reference base: anyone counting only the full-time first-degree programmes, and excluding continuing-education and short-term students, arrives at a higher share. We deliberately quote the figure that can be checked.

What does studying at Rīga Stradiņš University cost?

At Rīga Stradiņš University, medicine costs 13,500 euros and dentistry 15,500 euros per year in the 2026/27 academic year. On top of that come a 100 euro application fee and a one-off registration fee of 1,800 euros. The fee stays constant over the entire duration of the programme and does not rise from year to year.

Our own total calculation for Riga

We calculated this breakdown ourselves; it appears in this form at no university. It is based on the 2026/27 fees, the one-off additional costs and the shared-flat budget of 1,050 euros per month that Rīga Stradiņš University itself quotes.

The merit discount of up to 25 percent is granted automatically from the third year of study, without an application, to 40 medical and 4 dental students with a grade average of 8.0 or above. In medicine it saves around 13,500 euros over four years. You should not rely on it. It is a bonus, not a basis for budgeting. Siblings, parents and alumni receive an additional 10 percent.

As a second option in Riga there is the University of Latvia, with an English-language medical programme for 11,850 euros per year. Over six years that is around 9,900 euros less. In return, only 35 places are available there, there is a compulsory online interview and no dentistry in English. Which of the two calculations works for you is something we look at together in a free consultation.

How does the clinical campus in Stade work?

On 12 September 2024, Rīga Stradiņš University opened its first site outside Latvia, at Elbe Klinikum Stade in Lower Saxony. Years one to three take place in Riga, the clinical years four and five in Stade, and the sixth year in Stade and Riga. Communication with patients in Stade is in German.

Elbe Klinikum Stade has over 800 beds, 2,800 staff and more than 45,000 inpatients a year. A room in a shared flat in Stade costs around 370 euros a month according to the university. A comparable arrangement exists otherwise only at Semmelweis with Hamburg and Kaiserslautern.

Stade is the question I am asked most reliably in consultations about Riga. Usually in this form: am I guaranteed the place in Stade? The honest answer is no; places are limited and nothing is automatic. Anyone who wants this route should treat it as a goal from the outset rather than as an option that will somehow materialise in the third year.

Which programmes at Rīga Stradiņš University are taught in English?

In 2026, only medicine over six years and dentistry over five years are available in English at Rīga Stradiņš University, along with some master's programmes. Pharmacy, psychology, physiotherapy and public health run exclusively in Latvian. Veterinary medicine belongs to a different institution in Latvia.

Many overviews get this wrong. Dentistry in English is offered in Riga exclusively by Rīga Stradiņš University, and it is considerably more selective than medicine: 32 places per intake compared with 240 in medicine, plus a minimum grade of 80 rather than 70 percent in biology and chemistry. Veterinary medicine sits with the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies in Jelgava.

How is the medical programme in Riga structured?

The medical programme at Rīga Stradiņš University runs for six years and 360 ECTS. Years one and two cover anatomy, physiology and biochemistry; patient contact begins in the third year. Years four and five are clinical, and the sixth year consists of three rotation cycles and ends with the state final examination.

From the fourth semester onwards, teaching already takes place in specially equipped teaching rooms in Riga's largest hospitals: at Pauls Stradiņš Clinical University Hospital, at the children's hospital, at Rīga East University Hospital and at the Hospital of Traumatology and Orthopaedics. According to the university, the Medical Education Technology Centre is Latvia's only simulation centre and the largest in the Baltic states.

In dentistry, work begins on phantom heads and 3D equipment; real patients follow from the fifth semester at the Institute of Stomatology. Graduates additionally receive a certificate from the Latvian Dental Association.

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Do you have to learn Latvian at Rīga Stradiņš University?

Yes. At Rīga Stradiņš University, Latvian is an assessed compulsory subject, not an optional extra. In medicine, the course Medical Terminology in Latin and Latvian Language in Medicine carries 9 ECTS; in dentistry there are several compulsory courses in the first semesters. From the third year of study you need Latvian to take a patient history.

This is the point first-year students underestimate most often. I began my own studies in Sofia in 2015 and experienced the same thing there: teaching runs in English, everyday life does not, and at the bedside at the latest the national language counts. Anyone who starts practising twenty minutes a day in week one has no stress in the third year. Anyone who waits until the third year is learning the language and clinical medicine at the same time. That is the more uncomfortable option. Anyone completing the clinical stage in Stade shifts this point largely into German.

Where may you work as a doctor with a degree from Rīga Stradiņš University?

Latvia has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004. The Latvian evidence of formal medical qualification is listed in Annex V point 5.1.1 of Directive 2005/36/EC of 7 September 2005. Graduates of Rīga Stradiņš University therefore benefit from automatic recognition throughout the EU and the EEA, without any substantive equivalence assessment.

One contradiction should be resolved here. Some information pages still state that the Rīga Stradiņš University degree is equivalent to a British MBBS including a one-year internship. That statement dates from before Brexit and described the EU automatic recognition then in force. Since the United Kingdom's withdrawal, the General Medical Council assesses every qualification individually. Anyone planning for the United Kingdom should therefore not rely on older pages.

What applies to dentists, pharmacists, psychologists and vets in Latvia?

The Latvian dentistry degree is automatically recognised across the EU under Annex V point 5.3.2, the veterinary degree under point 5.4.2 and the pharmacy degree under point 5.6.2. This automatic recognition does not apply to psychologists, because the profession has no harmonised minimum training under Directive 2005/36/EC.

Dentist. In Germany, licensure runs via the Dental Practitioners Act and the licensing regulations for dentists; in Switzerland via MEBEKO. Rīga Stradiņš University is the only institution in Latvia offering dentistry in English. Further options are set out in our article on dentistry abroad without a grade cut-off.

Pharmacist. Pharmacy is offered at Rīga Stradiņš University exclusively in Latvian. For international applicants without Latvian, Riga is therefore not a pharmacy location. It is worth looking to Hungary or Bulgaria instead.

Psychologist and psychotherapist. Two obstacles coincide. Psychology is offered at Rīga Stradiņš University only in Latvian, and automatic EU recognition does not apply to psychologists in any case. A Latvian psychology degree is assessed in Germany as a higher education degree. Anyone wishing to become a psychotherapist takes the study route provided for under the reformed German Psychotherapists Act, with subsequent licensure.

Veterinarian. Veterinary medicine in Latvia sits with the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies in Jelgava, around 45 kilometres southwest of Riga. We describe a particularly affordable EU alternative in our article on studying veterinary medicine in Bulgaria.

What should you watch for if you want to transfer to Germany later?

Anyone wanting to keep open the option of a later transfer to a German faculty should keep three assessed compulsory subjects at Rīga Stradiņš University in view, because they match German requirements: Medical Terminology in Latin and Latvian Language in Medicine with 9 ECTS, Medical Genetics with 6 ECTS and Bioethics and Sociology of Medicine with 6 ECTS.

There is nevertheless a gap. Medical psychology appears in the Rīga Stradiņš University programme only as an elective, whereas medical psychology and medical sociology are a compulsory credit in Germany for the first section of the state medical examination. Anyone with a transfer in mind should therefore actively take this elective and have it assessed. Which courses make sense in your case is something we plan together. More on this in our article on transferring back to Germany.

In the other direction there is a restriction you need to know about: Rīga Stradiņš University does not itself admit transfer students into higher semesters. Everyone begins in the first semester. Credit transfer is possible only for the first semester.

What does living in Riga cost per month?

Rīga Stradiņš University recommends a budget for Riga of at least 1,200 euros per month including accommodation, and calculates 1,050 euros in a shared flat and 1,500 euros living alone. A place in a student hall in a double room starts at around 140 euros including utilities. A monthly public transport pass costs 30 euros.

Market data are considerably lower: a one-bedroom apartment in the centre costs around 525 euros, outside the centre around 348 euros. The contradiction resolves as soon as you compare what is being measured. The university quotes a full-cost budget with rent, food, insurance, study materials and a buffer. The market data quote only the base rent. Both figures are correct. They describe different things.

Riga has around 600,000 inhabitants, an old town with UNESCO World Heritage status, Europe's largest Art Nouveau quarter and direct flights to Germany. That makes the city more expensive than Budapest or Pécs and cheaper than most German university cities. A full comparison is available in our monthly budget for studying medicine abroad.

Who is Rīga Stradiņš University the right choice for?

In 2026, Rīga Stradiņš University suits students who welcome English as the language of instruction, who are looking for a large international cohort and who need certainty about the price. The fee stays constant for six years. Anyone attracted by the clinical campus in Stade will find an arrangement that is rare across Europe.

The technical language of medicine is English in any case. Anyone who studies in that language for six years later reads research without a detour. That is an advantage which only becomes visible after graduation.

Riga is less suitable if you want to study in German, if pharmacy or psychology is your goal, or if you have no appetite for an assessed compulsory language subject. My own assessment: the combination of a constant fee and Stade currently makes Riga one of the most stable locations in the Baltic states for international applicants. Whether that also holds for your career goal is something we can clarify in a free consultation.