Transfer from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice: Where to Continue Medicine or Dentistry in 2026

What is Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice and what does it teach in English?

Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, is a public university founded in 1959, and its Faculty of Medicine goes back to September 1948. English-language medical study has run there since 1992. Two English-taught programmes are offered: General Medicine over six years, leading to the MUDr., and Dental Medicine over five years, leading to the MDDr.

The faculty sits beside the L. Pasteur University Hospital in Košice, where most clinical training takes place. Košice is the second-largest city in Slovakia, in the east of the country. Slovakia uses the euro, which keeps years of fee planning free of exchange-rate arithmetic. That is a quiet advantage.

One point causes regular confusion. Veterinary medicine in Košice belongs to a separate institution, the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy, and not to Šafárik University. Our full location profile for medicine and dentistry is at Šafárik University in Košice.

Can you transfer from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice to another university?

Yes. Students at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, can continue medicine or dentistry at another university, and Medschool Experts arranges the move. We compare the semesters you have completed against the curricula of our official partner universities, then place you at the highest year your record supports. You stay enrolled in Košice until the new place is confirmed.

A transfer is a curriculum comparison, not a fresh start. Your subjects, examinations and credits are read against what the receiving faculty expects at each year of study, and the point where the two line up becomes your entry year. We do that comparison for you, and we do it before anything is decided.

Medschool Experts works only with official partner universities. That matters, because a transfer route runs through standing agreements rather than through open applications. Send us your record and we will tell you where the fit is strongest.

Why do students transfer from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice?

Students leave Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia, for practical reasons rather than academic ones. The most common are the total cost of a long programme abroad, a wish for an examination rhythm that suits them better, personal or organisational circumstances, and a career target in the United States or Germany that another university prepares for more directly.

Five reasons come up again and again in our consultations.

• Total cost. Medicine in Košice is EUR 13,000 per academic year in 2026/2027 and dentistry EUR 13,500, with living costs of roughly EUR 500 to 800 a month (Medschool Experts, 2026). Some families plan for the first years and then look for a lower total over what remains.
• Examination fit. A different examination format and a different pace suit some students better. We are specialists in exactly this kind of move, and we help you find the format that matches how you actually work.
• Personal and organisational circumstances. A family situation, health, a partner in another country, or difficulties with an individual teacher. These have nothing to do with the standing of a faculty and everything to do with whether someone can carry on where they are.
• A career in the United States. Caribbean medical schools help students into the US system through the USMLE, US clinical rotations and residency. Mostar School of Medicine in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only European university that specifically prepares for the USMLE.
• A career in Germany. Some universities prepare particularly well for this, for example the University of East Sarajevo in Foča or EU universities such as Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria.

Where can Pavol Jozef Šafárik University students transfer to?

Where a Pavol Jozef Šafárik University student transfers to depends on the goal. Lower total cost in medicine points to the Faculty of Medicine Foča in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A career in the United States points to Mostar School of Medicine or a Caribbean medical school. Dentistry continues at Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria, taught in English.

Dentistry deserves a separate line. A dental transfer only works where dentistry is actually taught in English, so the destination set is narrower than for medicine. Varna is the option we verify and use. For medicine the choice is wider, and the deciding factor is usually cost or career direction rather than geography.

How much can a Pavol Jozef Šafárik University student save by transferring?

Medicine at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice costs EUR 13,000 in tuition for the 2026/2027 academic year. At the Faculty of Medicine Foča, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, tuition is EUR 3,500 per year, and the whole year including living costs runs at about EUR 7,500 (Medschool Experts figures, 2026).

The arithmetic is straightforward. Tuition of EUR 13,000 plus living costs of EUR 500 to 800 a month gives roughly EUR 19,000 to 22,600 for a year in Košice. Set against about EUR 7,500 for a full year in Foča, the gap is roughly EUR 11,500 to 15,100 per year. Over three remaining years that compounds.

Treat these as planning figures, not quotations. Living costs depend on whether you take a hall of residence or a private flat, and university fees are set annually. Ask any university to confirm its current fee in writing before you commit. We do that check with you as part of the placement work, and many other affordable partner universities sit alongside Foča in our network.

Which year can you enter after leaving Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice?

There is no fixed ceiling on the entry year after leaving Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice, Slovakia. Medschool Experts frequently achieves high placements, often into year 4 or year 5. Every record is reviewed individually, and the aim is always the highest possible entry with no or minimal loss of time.

As a rule of thumb, a clean transfer usually allows no more than two outstanding examinations, and their combined ECTS must stay below a set maximum. Within that, the year you enter is decided by what you have already passed, not by a standard policy. Some students move across with a full year recognised. Others carry one subject with them and clear it in the first semester.

What we will not do is promise a year before we have read your transcript. The review is free, and it is the only way to answer the question properly.

How does a transfer from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice work with Medschool Experts?

A transfer from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice runs through four steps with Medschool Experts: a free consultation about your goal and budget, a review of your academic record against partner curricula, a written placement offer naming the university and entry year, and the switch itself. You stay enrolled in Košice until the new place is confirmed.

That last point is the one we repeat most often. Nobody should give up a place before another one exists in writing. The order of operations protects you, and it costs nothing to follow. You can read about our work on the services page, and what the move looks like from the student side in our student stories.

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Does a Slovak medical degree stay recognised if you transfer to another country?

A degree from Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice is recognised automatically across the European Union under Directive 2005/36/EC, because Slovakia is an EU member state. Recognition follows the university that awards your final diploma, not the one where you began, so after a transfer the rules of your destination country apply instead.

If you move to another EU university, such as Medical University of Varna in Bulgaria, automatic recognition under the same directive continues to apply to your degree. If you move outside the European Union, recognition runs through the national procedure of the country where you want to practise, and the route differs from case to case. For the United States the path leads through the USMLE, which is where Mostar School of Medicine and the Caribbean schools have their focus.

We go through this with you before a decision, not after. Which country you want to work in is often the single most useful piece of information you can bring to a first consultation, because it narrows the sensible destinations quickly.

When should Pavol Jozef Šafárik University students start planning a transfer?

The best moment for a Pavol Jozef Šafárik University student to start planning is the semester before the intended move, while the current academic year is still running. A transcript that closes cleanly at the end of a year transfers more easily than one interrupted mid-semester. Start the conversation early. Nothing is given up until a new place is confirmed.

Early planning buys options. It gives time for the record review, for a placement offer to be issued, and for the practical side of moving country. Students who come to us mid-semester are not too late, but their choices narrow. Those who come a semester ahead usually get the entry year they hoped for.

You can browse the full range at our partner universities at any time. When you want a concrete answer about your own record, book a free consultation and we will look at it together.