Western Europe- free

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
S

souvy

Junior Member
10+ Year Member
5+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Jul 28, 2004
Messages
17
Reaction score
0
Hi there,
Is it true that medical education in some parts of western europe is free?
What are schools there like and what about the language?
Thanks
Members don't see this ad.
 
No, I wouldn't say there are any that are free (?! how would they pay their costs?). Not that I know of. And if there are any, I would wonder why their name isn't more recognized. What you might be thinking of, is that for european citizens, education may be "free" in terms of No Tuition. This is because the government subsidizes a college education (supposedly). Having said that, it's not truly free because there are fees and levies to be paid which can amount to several hundred euro. However, non-EU citizens are not eligible and pay full fees (around 20,000 euro) , and other EU students pay a fee of around 5,000. These fees vary from school to school, of course.
 
Hey all,
Well actually I think the above statement only applies to UK/Ireland and maybe a few other countries in Europe. I hate how these boards can be flooded with not-so-accurate information. Don't shoot down souvy's dreams if you don't know the full information.

Souvy,
I can tell you that whether you are an EU citizen or not there are many medical schools that have school for free no matter where you are from, as long are you are studying in that country's native language. Over in Czech Republic, the medical program in Czech is free but you will have to take a czech language assesment test (the program in English is not free). In Sweden all university is free but you have to pay some fee that has to do with so miscellaneous thing. In France school it is close to free and in Italy tuition of medical school is based on one's income but it never exceeds $3,000 per year.

The reason that these countries aren't popular with international students is for obvious reasons. They teach in their native language which can be difficult to learn in if it's your second language or even not a language you speak at all. Even though schools in Sweden and other countries in Scandanavia are free, I believe they are difficult to get into. Schools in Italy and France aren't so tough to gain admission. The latter comment is hearsay. Everything else is research.

Good luck Souvy,
Andrew
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Andrew thanks.
I was actually thinking about France and Italy. From what i've seen (website) Scandinavian schools seem kind of tight.
I wouldn't mind learning a second language like French, Italian or Spanish, I believe it would give me an edge internationally.
I am an African and maybe the language thing is because i'm secretly a romantic at heart.
I think these countries have good curriculum, which i would say is very important.
I didn't know studying in Czech language was free, it seems like a difficult language anyway.
I would appreciate any more information and insights.
Thaks again.
 
Yes, medical school in Oslo, Norway costs 60 dollars per semester (really a fee to the student union which gives you subsidized living quarters and free healthcare) - I am not kidding! (I know you Americans must think so!) The trick is that you must speak the language and you must pass the rigorous entrance requirements :thumbup:
 
Wow! I guess that is free enough. :)
Norway sounds very cold to someone like me that spent all her life in the tropics.
I wouldn't even know how to go about learning the language.
Thanks dear for the info.
 
 
Med school tuition in Italy is based on your family income. I'm not really sure how this works with intl students. You'd have to contact the intl students secretary office to find out. I think the max med school tuition is something like 2500 euro a year plus housing/living expenses and books.
 
Only country in Europe I know of that limits med school to citizens in Switzerland. In EU countries, education is increasingly coordinated, because of the right to transfer a license to any EU member state. That being said, entrance requirements vary. Scandinavia is typically pretty tough. Heard that France+Italy is easier, but don't have solid information.
Note however, that a European degree -could- make it tougher to get back to the US, if that's your plan. Not because the training is substandard, but because US training is geared towards aceing the USMLE, while the vast majority of Eur. training is based on oral or written (not multiple choice) examination. Also, focus in several countries is tilted more towards basic science compared to the US. So you'd have to study separately for USMLE if that's your thing.
 
Sorry for the misinfo. It is very hard for me to believe that it'd be free for non-EU students. Just check this out before rushing into things, no matter how good they sound. I still think, despite the language barrier, if education was truly free for non-EU citizens it'd be more popular, as you'd get the opportunity not only to live in Europe, but learn the language as well.
 
Leorl,
Thanks for being sceptical, it's okay.
I guess it helps not to just jump to conclusions but to take a second look.
How come nobody has said anything about Spanish schools?
The whole idea of studying in western europe and learning a second language is very fascinating :cool:
 
Here's a list of approved medical schools in spain: http://imed.ecfmg.org/results.asp?c...e=SPAIN&city=&region=EU&rname=Europe&psize=25.

Here's another website for a program that seems to teach you "medical Spanish." http://www.spanishabroad.com/prog_medical.htm .

I didn't do an indepth search, but... looks like you'll have to contact your school of interest directly. Research into it would be interesting if not tricky, considering all the websites are in spanish. Maybe you can ask people at the website above if they know of any venues and how to apply .
 
Leorl, I didn't know there were only 27 schools recognized by Ecfmg.
I've already started looking into them and would contact them directly.
I appreciate the time and effort you have put into this for me.
Thanks :)
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I actually meant to type medical schools in Spain.
Well i've written to some of the schools and have gotten two responses so far.
I did a lot of browsing through websites about the Spanish educational system in regards to medical students, well it's true that they treat foreigners and EU citizens alike.
Now the next step for me is to learn Spanish.
This is getting interesting by the day.
Wish someone that has studied in Spain or is studying there presently could drop a line or two.
I am still researching anyway.
Thanks everyone.
 
Thanks, you're a dear. ;)
 
Well, med school in the UK is cheap - if you're a UK citizen. It's ?1150 for me this year, I think. Goes up by ?25 each year. But if you're overseas, forget it! (Overseas is anyone who has not lived in the UK for at least 3 years prior to going to university, and living in the UK for 3 years for the purposes of education doesn't count...)

It used to be entirely free. If only I'd been born 4 years earlier...!

The French medical education system seems hellishly difficult from what I've seen. ANyone can enter the 1st year, but then they have an exam which about 80% fail (apparently) and that is what determines if you can go onto 2nd year :scared:

Sounds hard, is all I can say.
 
FionaS said:
The French medical education system seems hellishly difficult from what I've seen. ANyone can enter the 1st year, but then they have an exam which about 80% fail (apparently) and that is what determines if you can go onto 2nd year :scared:
Click to expand...

PhD's in France work a bit like this as well. Everyone does some kind of preliminary year of courses/labwork and then only the pick of the crop gets to progress to begin the actual PhD. Whereas in Ireland/UK pretty much anyone with a II.1 degree can do a PhD!
 
leorl said:
no no, that's just in spain. 27 schools in Spain hehe. If not, i'd say the rest of us would be screwed :). There's like 1500-1600 schools in the directory.
Click to expand...

Any school which is listed in the WHO World Directory is approved by ECFMG. Some US States, however, have blacklisted schools, e.g. California.
 
Hi souvy,
medical education in Germany is more or less "free". I have to pay 85 ? per semester (the amount depends on which university you study).
However, German is a tough language, but not impossible to learn...
 
Hi Gaba,
Are you German? 85 Euros a semester sounds very affordable.
German as a language, well i don't know if i'd be able to learn the language.
I hear living expenses are high, is this true?
I have friends studying medicine in Vienna, they came down to Nigeria this summer and whenever they start speaking German i just shake my head in wonder.
They've tried convincing me that German is not impossible to learn but i don't know.
 
Yes, I'm German.
The living costs are quite different. Cities like Munich, Heidelberg or Frankfurt are very expensive and it is hard to find adequate housing, whereas the situation in Berlin, all the cities in East Germany and some cities in the west, is far better.
As a student you can get a room in student hostels (again depends on where you study, I have to pay 195 ? per month incl. internet flatrate :))
Currently there is a discussion about tuition fees (500 ?/semester), so maybe in some years studying will not be such cheap as now.
Everybody can learn any language, that's just a question of stamina.
@ all who are interested, here are some links about the German study of medicine (only in German!):
www.medi-learn.net
www.medizinstudent.de
www.thieme.de/viamedici
www.stethosglobe.de
The best German forum for medical students:
www.medi-foren.de
 
Hi, Souvy, I was wondering if you could share some of the information you have found out about the med schools in Spain. I'm in my final year of medicine in India and I'd like to do a couple of rotations of my internship there. Are there email addresses that I could write to or phone numbers I could call? I'd love any help/ideas you could give me. Thanks

souvy said:
I actually meant to type medical schools in Spain.
Well i've written to some of the schools and have gotten two responses so far.
I did a lot of browsing through websites about the Spanish educational system in regards to medical students, well it's true that they treat foreigners and EU citizens alike.
Now the next step for me is to learn Spanish.
This is getting interesting by the day.
Wish someone that has studied in Spain or is studying there presently could drop a line or two.
I am still researching anyway.
Thanks everyone.
Click to expand...
 
leorl said:
Gaba, do you know of US students studying medicine in Germany? Are the schools open to international (non-EU) students and if so, is tuition as cheap for them as well?
Click to expand...
The medical schools are open to any international student who meets the admission standarts. There are also no extra tuition fees for them. I know students from different countries (incl. non-EU) but not from the US.
 
Maanasa, You could check out this website, it has the list of all universities in Spain, you could also work with the Ecfmg list so you'd be able to differentiate between universities.
www.universia.es/contenidos/ internacionales/guia_extranjeros/indice.htm
If you click on the university, it gives you a list of useful information and addresses for international relations.
Hope this helps.

Gaba,
How easy is it to get into medical schools in Germany and how easy is it to survive in Germany? Do the universities have a preparatory class for international students or do you have to learn the language on your own?
 
GABA said:
Hi souvy,
medical education in Germany is more or less "free". I have to pay 85 ? per semester (the amount depends on which university you study).
However, German is a tough language, but not impossible to learn...
Click to expand...
German is a lovely language! Much easier than French! It's just more logical somehow ;)
 
FionaS said:
German is a lovely language! Much easier than French! It's just more logical somehow ;)
Click to expand...
Right! :) :D :thumbup:
 
souvy said:
Gaba,
How easy is it to get into medical schools in Germany and how easy is it to survive in Germany? Do the universities have a preparatory class for international students or do you have to learn the language on your own?
Click to expand...
Well, I don't know very much about the application procedure for international students. At the moment, all German students have to apply at the ZVS (Zentralstelle f?r die Vergabe von Studienpl?tzen, www.zvs.de) for a place to study medicine. Foreign students from the European Union, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway also have to apply at the ZVS, whereas students from the rest of the world have to apply directly at the universities (www.zvs.de/Service/Download/M11.pdf). Contact the universities for more information.
Good websites (partly in English or French) about studying (medicine) in Germany are:
www.en.studienwahl.de/eng_info.htm (www.studienwahl.de)
www.higher-education-compass.de/4dcgi/F13,2.1,12.2 (www.hochschulkompass.de)
www.campus-germany.de/english
The Goethe-Institute (http://www.goethe-institut.de/enindex.htm) offer language courses in Germany and worldwide! There are also courses at the universities.
If you have more questions, just ask!
 
I don't know about German being an easy language to learn, but I guess it really does look easier than French :)
Gaba, thanks for the websites. I'd check them out.
I might be in Germany before the end of the year for about a week or two on vacation, so I'd get to see what life there really looks like, I hope.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

I
Central Europe medical schools
Replies
2
Views
1K
Daniel Meyers
Daniel Meyers
A
Australia -> Europe radiology training
Replies
0
Views
875
AusRadiologyHopeful
A
P
Medical University Łódź English Division
Replies
1
Views
991
shawtie101
S
lucapiet
Canadian resident looking to study in Europe
Replies
0
Views
1K
lucapiet
lucapiet
J
going to a med school in Europe-evaluation of diploma
Replies
1
Views
2K
Tangerine123
Tangerine123
Top