What Is the First Year of Medical School Like? Bosnia vs Germany

Key Takeaways

• Studying ahead before the start of term is of little benefit — both students advise against it. In Germany, the only sensible preparation is completing the nursing placement in advance.
• Access is NC-free: those who meet the requirements can secure a study place through Medschool Experts — while places remain available.
• The first year revolves around anatomy in both places: in Lübeck with weekly dissection sessions and tests, in Bosnia through staged colloquiums from bones through to the final exam.
• In Germany, around three to four major exams per semester are standard; in Bosnia, nine subjects with exams concentrated mainly in summer — both are manageable.

Should I Study Ahead Before Medical School?

The clear answer from both countries: no. Sophie recounts that after receiving her offer, out of fear of being surrounded by supposed geniuses, she used an anatomy app to learn bones — and looking back she says that made no difference to her academic success. Universities assume no prior knowledge in the foundational subjects.

“Relax and just enjoy the time — let the lectures wash over you when they actually start.” – Sophie, medical student at the University of Lübeck

Erika confirms this from Bosnia: every subject starts from zero, nobody expects prior knowledge. Her recommendation is to use the time before the start of studies consciously for family, holidays, and the upcoming move — because for most people, studying also means starting life in a new city.

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How Does the Programme Begin — Freshers’ Week or Straight In?

In Lübeck, the programme begins with a freshers’ week that primarily achieves one thing: it brings people together. Sophie made the friendships there that have accompanied her to this day — in her seventh semester. The whole event is organised entirely by students themselves; the larger the university, the more elaborate the proceedings. In Lübeck this includes a legendary spoof lecture, in which older students dressed in costume announce a supposed trial exam to the newcomers — until everything resolves into an initiation ritual.

In Bosnia, this opening was noticeably more sober: on the first day the dean gave a brief welcome address, and the first anatomy professor was immediately in the lecture hall — lectures starting without any get-to-know-you phase. Erika says openly that she found this disappointing and envies the German freshers’ week a little.

Students in Bosnia have since taken matters into their own hands: after the second year of study, German students organised a white coat ceremony for the first time — a small celebration to mark the end of the first phase of study, as exists at many universities worldwide. What the study location itself looks like is shown on the Foča location page.

What Subjects Are in the First Year?