Study Transfer from North Macedonia: Switch to Foča, Niš or Malta

Which medical faculties exist in North Macedonia?

Three, all state-run. Private providers with human medicine cannot be verified.

Faculty of Medicine of Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje (UKIM) — the oldest and largest, in operation since 1947. General Medicine is offered in Macedonian and English; UKIM lists the programme among its fully English-language accredited programmes. Fees: €5,000 per academic year.

Faculty of Medical Sciences of Goce Delčev University Štip (UGD) — General Medicine also in English, six years, 360 ECTS, with an additional language interview in the selection process. Fees: €6,000 per academic year according to the current admissions page, plus a €100 application fee.

Faculty of Medical Sciences of the University of Tetovo — twelve semesters, 360 ECTS, teaching in Albanian. An English-language programme cannot be verified here.

A note on fees in Štip

The University of Štip states €6,000 on its admissions page but €4,000 on its programme page. The discrepancy originates from the university’s own website — the admissions page is the more current one. Have the amount confirmed in writing by the International Office before any decision.

Why do students transfer from North Macedonia?

The language in clinical practice. Teaching runs in English; the wards run in Macedonian or Albanian. This is not a criticism, but the norm in the region — yet it surprises many.

No WFME framework. There is no accreditation agency for North Macedonia recognized by the World Federation for Medical Education — not even in the application process. For German medical licensure this is irrelevant, but for the US pathway via ECFMG certification it has been a bar since 2024. Those who want to keep this option open must act early.

Fit and support. Some students simply find that a different location suits them better. That is also a legitimate reason.

Recognition itself is regulated. North Macedonia has been an EU candidate since 2005, with accession negotiations underway since 2022 — but remains formally a third country. This is no longer a disadvantage since the reform of March 2026: from 1 November 2026, the oral knowledge examination under Paragraph 3 of the Federal Medical Licensing Act applies as the standard pathway to nationwide medical licensure. You should not wait for accession, however — before a degree is automatically recognized, it must first be included in Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC.

How the study transfer works in five steps

1. Gather documents. Transcript of records with ECTS and grades, study plan, enrolment certificate, school leaving certificate.

2. Free initial assessment. We tell you which academic year is realistic.

3. Formal review by the target university. The faculty makes the binding decision on credit recognition.

4. Application and acceptance. Certifications, apostille, translations, deadlines.

5. Enrolment and arrival. Accommodation, residence permit, insurance.

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Where you can transfer to

Faculty of Medicine Foča (Bosnia and Herzegovina) — one of our core locations, around €3,500 per academic year. Foča generally grants very high year placements. Compared to Skopje you save around €1,500 per year; compared to Štip around €2,500.

University of Niš (Serbia) — around €6,000 per academic year. The region and study structure are familiar, and the curriculum is closely comparable, which benefits credit recognition.

MediCampus Europeo Malta — around €14,500 per academic year, EU member state. The degree is automatically recognized under the EU Professional Qualifications Directive; equivalency and knowledge examinations are not required. For those for whom the recognition pathway matters more than the price, this is the clearest solution.

How high the year placement turns out depends on the individual case

All three locations enable the highest possible placement with no or minimal loss of time through us. Each case is assessed individually. General rule of thumb: usually no more than two examinations may be outstanding, and the ECTS credits of those examinations must not exceed a maximum. North Macedonian curricula are consistently documented in ECTS — this is an advantage for credit recognition.

What the transfer costs

Skopje costs €5,000, Štip €6,000 per academic year. Foča costs €3,500, Niš €6,000, Malta €14,500.

A transfer to Foča reduces ongoing costs immediately. Niš is cost-neutral compared to Štip. Malta costs considerably more, but saves the entire recognition procedure in Germany — factor in the time and examination costs before dismissing that figure as too high.

On top of this come one-off costs for certifications, apostille, and translations. We factor these into the initial consultation.

Why early advice pays off

Year placement depends on completed semesters, not started ones. Those who ask after the second year have more flexibility than those who ask after the fourth. And the target universities’ deadlines are fixed — missing them costs half a year for no academic reason.

The initial consultation is free of charge and non-binding. Sometimes the outcome is: stay where you are.