Studying Medicine in Košice: Costs, Structure and Recognition

Košice at a glance

Košice lies in the east of Slovakia, around 400 kilometres from Bratislava and less than an hour's drive from the Hungarian border. With around 230,000 inhabitants it is the country's second-largest city, and in 2013 it was European Capital of Culture. For you as a prospective doctor, what counts above all is that the Faculty of Medicine of Pavol Jozef Šafárik University teaches human medicine and dentistry entirely in English.

One point stands out immediately when comparing with other English-language programmes: Slovakia works in euros. That sounds trivial, but over six years it spares you every conversion, every exchange fee and every discussion about rate fluctuations when paying the semester fee. The second point is the size of the city. Košice is big enough for a university hospital providing the highest level of care, and small enough that you know half the cohort by the second semester.

University and hospital

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University is a classical full university with five faculties – medicine, natural sciences, law, public administration and arts – plus an institute of sport. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026 it is placed in the 1201 to 1500 band, with 6,854 students and a ratio of 9.1 students per member of teaching staff. Around a quarter of students come from abroad. That proportion matters more for an English-language programme than it appears at first glance: it determines whether you learn within an international cohort or tag along as an isolated case.

The clinical partner is Univerzitná nemocnica L. Pasteura Košice. According to its own figures, the hospital has more than 1,356 beds across 46 clinical units: 25 clinics, 11 departments, 9 specialist centres and 3 institutes, with around 3,530 staff. It is the largest hospital in eastern Slovakia and serves a region extending well beyond the city limits. For the clinical stage of the programme, that means a broad spectrum of cases, including ones rarely seen on the wards of smaller teaching hospitals.

At locations like Košice I am struck again and again by how strongly the proximity between faculty and hospital shapes daily life. When the lecture theatre and the ward are a few minutes apart, students go into the hospital even when no course requires it. That is exactly how the routine develops that later makes the difference in professional life.

Which programmes are offered and in which language?

At Šafárik University itself you can study human medicine and dentistry in English. Veterinary medicine does not belong to this university but to the Univerzita veterinárskeho lekárstva a farmácie (UVLF), which is also based in Košice and offers an English-language programme. For you this means: three medical professions are within reach in one place, but across two separate institutions with their own procedures and their own fees.

The language of instruction in all three programmes is English, from lectures to examinations. In addition there are Slovak language courses in the first years of study. They are not decoration but the prerequisite for being able to speak with patients at the hospital from the third year onwards. Anyone who takes these courses seriously gets noticeably more out of ward work. Dentistry has been set at five years since the 2025/2026 academic year and leads to the MDDr.; the title itself is unaffected.

How does admission work?

The university selects via a written multiple-choice test, 100 questions each in chemistry and biology. It tests school-level science from the upper secondary curriculum, not university knowledge. There is no grade cut-off, and your average grade plays no part in the selection. As a university entrance qualification, the applied university entrance qualification (Fachhochschulreife) is accepted alongside the general one – nothing about that is automatic, however, because the university assesses every entrance qualification individually. We look at your case together beforehand in a free consultation.

Registration, application and the test appointment are organised by Medschool Experts. We take care of the documents, so you do not have to work your way through any formalities. The process can as a rule be handled entirely online; a trip to Slovakia is not necessary for the entrance test.

We prepare you specifically for the academic part, with practice material and mock runs in biology and chemistry. If a motivation interview is added, we practise that too. Anyone who dropped chemistry or biology in the upper secondary years needs lead time for this: three to four months of structured revision is, in my experience, more realistic than two intensive weeks. The academic year begins in September, so application and test fall in the months before.

It makes sense not to learn the material as two separate subjects. Organic chemistry and cell biology interlock in the questions, and anyone who sees the connections saves time in the test. Two mock runs under genuine time conditions are, in our experience, worth more than ten further hours of study without a clock. More important than the final percentage point is that you know the format before you sit down in front of it.

What does the programme cost?

The fees are due semester by semester and are therefore easy to plan for. In human medicine they are 6,500 EUR per semester, i.e. 13,000 EUR per academic year; in dentistry, 6,750 EUR per semester. Veterinary medicine at UVLF is billed per academic year and costs 10,000 EUR there, plus an application fee of 50 EUR and a deposit of 800 EUR that is offset against the first annual fee.

That is only half the calculation. I have worked through the full duration of the human medicine programme once – the result is an estimate, not a calculation by the university, and I have used 600 EUR per month as an average for living costs: 78,000 EUR in tuition, around 43,200 EUR in living costs over 72 months, roughly 2,100 EUR for textbooks and study materials and approximately 4,200 EUR for trips home. In total you arrive at around 127,500 EUR for six years. For the five-year dentistry programme, the same logic gives me approximately 108,000 EUR.

Compared with other English-language locations in central Europe, Košice sits in the lower middle range. I have compiled this table from the fees of our partner universities, in each case for human medicine:

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How is the programme structured?

Human medicine follows the classical European structure: foundations first, then clinical medicine, and finally a continuously practical year. The 360 ECTS are comparable across Europe, which counts later for recognition and applications.

The rhythm is that of a classical European faculty: lectures and practicals run during the semester, and examinations cluster in the examination periods afterwards. Anatomy in the first year is, in our experience, the biggest hurdle; after that the curve flattens noticeably. Anyone who finds a study group from the first semester onwards gets through the pre-clinical years considerably more calmly.

From the third year onwards, placements at the university hospital form part of every clinical subject. The sixth year corresponds in structure and demands to the German final practical year. You may also complete clinical attachments in Germany; whether they are credited is decided by the competent state examination office. Have every certificate issued directly after each placement; that saves a great deal of chasing later. At the end comes the MUDr., and in dentistry the MDDr.

Where may you work as a doctor with this degree?

Slovakia is an EU member, and the Slovak medical degree is listed in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC – in the version of Delegated Decision (EU) 2023/2383 of 23 May 2023, applicable since 9 October 2023, under number 5.1.1 for doctors. Automatic recognition therefore applies, without a substantive equivalence assessment and without a knowledge examination.

The last point is pleasingly clear-cut for Košice. The competent national accreditation agency is the Slovenská akreditačná agentúra pre vysoké školstvo (SAAHE). It received Recognition Status from the World Federation for Medical Education on 5 September 2024, for the full term of ten years until August 2034. The ECFMG prerequisite for a later route to the USA is therefore met.

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

Dentist. The MDDr. from Šafárik University falls under number 5.3.2 of Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC and is automatically recognised in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The standard duration is five years, and you apply for licensure as a dentist with the authority of your federal state.

Pharmacist. Pharmacy is not part of Šafárik University's offering but is taught in Košice at UVLF. The profession is harmonised via number 5.6.2 of Annex V, so a Slovak pharmacy degree is recognised under the same rules as a German one. Whether a programme is available in English is something we check case by case.

Psychologist. Here something different applies: psychology and psychotherapy are not harmonised in the EU. There is no entry for them in Annex V, so automatic recognition does not apply. A foreign psychology degree is instead assessed in Germany under the general procedure, looking at the content and scope of the programme.

Veterinarian. The UVLF programme leads to the DVM after six years. The veterinary profession is harmonised via number 5.4.2 of Annex V, so the degree is likewise automatically recognised in the European Union. In Germany, licensure as a veterinarian is granted by the competent state authority.

Career paths after graduation

With the MUDr. and German licensure, the same paths are open to you as to graduates of German faculties. Specialist training lasts five to six years depending on the field and runs under the specialist training regulations of the relevant state medical association, at institutions with training authorisation. Where you studied plays no role in admission to specialist training.

Košice is interesting for anyone who wants to keep open a career start outside Germany. Six years of English-language technical vocabulary is a genuine head start if you later want to work in Scandinavia, Ireland or the Netherlands. Staying in Slovakia is also possible, though then with Slovak as the working language. We have broken down in detail what options an EU medical degree opens up worldwide in career paths with an EU medical degree.

Alongside patient care there are routes into research, public health, the pharmaceutical industry and medical technology. Šafárik University offers consecutive doctoral programmes that you can enter directly after the MUDr. Anyone wanting to go into research later should make contact with an institute early; the routes there are short at a faculty of this size, and student involvement in ongoing projects is the usual entry ticket.

Lateral entry, transfer and returning to Germany

Košice suits a late start well. Because selection runs via the subject test rather than a school grade, it makes no difference whether your certificate is two or twelve years old. Applicants with a completed vocational qualification or a first degree do not start out worse off here than recent school leavers – they simply need a little more time to bring chemistry and biology back to mind.

A transfer from Košice to a German faculty is possible but not a given. German universities assess your credits individually and allocate only the few free places in higher semesters; there is no entitlement. Your most important document for this is the Transcript of Records with all subjects, grades and ECTS credits. Have it issued after every academic year. My clear recommendation: choose Košice with the intention of completing your degree there. Anyone who plans a transfer from the outset studies for six years with half their attention.

Conversely, entry into a higher semester in Košice is conceivable if you bring suitable prior credits. What is realistic in your case is something we assess individually in a free consultation.

Living in Košice: city, distances, costs

Student life plays out around Hlavná ulica, one of the longest pedestrian zones in central Europe, with the Gothic St Elisabeth Cathedral at its centre. The city is manageable, distances are short, and public transport of trams and buses covers the centre well.

On costs, Košice sits noticeably below Bratislava. As of 16 August 2026, Numbeo puts a one-bedroom apartment in the centre at 822 EUR rent and 626 EUR outside the centre; a monthly public transport pass costs 30 EUR. Those rent figures apply to a whole apartment. University halls of residence and shared flats are considerably below that, which is why most students manage on 500 to 700 EUR a month for everything together. At the start of the semester the housing market tightens, however, and anyone searching late pays more.

For trips home there is Košice airport with connecting flights; direct flights to Germany are not the norm. Many people instead travel by bus or train to Vienna or Budapest and fly from there. That is a point you should honestly factor into your choice of location if frequent weekends at home matter to you. In return, the High Tatras are a good two hours' drive away, which gives the semester breaks and free weekends a quality of their own.

Who this location suits

Košice suits you if you want to study in the European Union without paying the highest fees, and if a large university hospital right on the doorstep matters more to you than a capital-city location. The subject test rewards preparation rather than school grades – the fair option for everyone whose school results limit their chances in Germany. Dentistry and veterinary medicine are also within reach in the same city, which makes Košice unusually versatile among the smaller locations.

The location suits you less if you want to fly home easily on a regular basis, or if the thought of additional language courses alongside the medical material bothers you. Slovak is part of the programme, and in the early years that takes time. How Slovakia ranks overall can be found in our overview article studying medicine in the Czech Republic and Slovakia; we have described the second Slovak location in studying medicine at Comenius University Bratislava.

My assessment: Košice is one of the most solid EU locations in the mid-price segment – an established programme, a strong hospital and costs that remain predictable over six years. If you want to know whether your profile and your timetable fit, then book a free consultation and we will go through your case together.