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Study medicine in Germany. Higher education in Germany is mainly funded by the State and as such, it is literally free of charge for domestic and international students alike. Students, in some cases, only have to pay a small fee that goes largely towards administrative costs. Admission to medical universities in Germany is competitive and restrictive, but also free.
How is that true?
In the past decade, Germany has been politically battling to ban tuition fees throughout the whole country; yet as a decentralized federal country, it was difficult to bring all 16 of the federations to agree. But in October 2014, the consensus was reached and Germany is now offering access to free higher education to all students, irrespective of their origin.
Studying medicine in Germany | All You need to Know
To a large extent, here’s everything you need to know in order to study medicine in Germany regarding application requirements, enrolment/tuition costs, future prospects, etc.
GENERAL ENTRY REQUIREMENTS TO STUDY IN GERMANY
Entry requirements for both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes in Germany are dependent on the university and the course of choice.
Application deadlines (including those for medicine courses) similarly change from university to university. In general, most medical schools in Germany apply two application falls – 15 July for the upcoming winter semester and 15 January for the upcoming summer semester.
Most university degrees in Germany are offered for free after international fees got softened in 2014 following a governmental decision. However, degrees in Medicine still come at a certain cost, you must be aware that private universities attract a lot of higher international tuition fees than their public counterparts. In addition, medical schools in the state of Baden-württemberg have re-introduced tuition fees for international students so if you’re going to study there, then you should get ready to pay more.
ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR MEDICAL STUDIES IN GERMANY
Requirements to study medicine in Germany are as follow;
German Language Skills:
Medical study in Germany requires the German skills, a very good knowledge of German, which you’ll need to prove with a strong TESTDAF or DSH score. If your language skills aren’t up to scratch yet, don’t worry: You can enroll in a pre-study German course to help get your language skills to the level required for medical study in Germany.
A Strong Knowledge of English language:
Strong knowledge of English, in order to understand specialist literature, is also required. It’s also helpful but not essential to have knowledge of Latin.
Pre-requisite Subjects:
Students must have extensive high school knowledge of biology, chemistry, and physics.
Cope Well Under Stress:
Ability to cope well with stress, as medical programs are often time-consuming and intensive, with up to 25-30 hours of compulsory classes a week.
Examinations:
Some universities may also require non-EU students to provide results for the TESTAS exam, while the test for medical studies (TMS) is voluntary but can help give you an edge over other candidates by demonstrating your academic potential.
Student Visa:
Non-EU students may require a student visa and residence permit. International students who need a visa to enter the Federal Republic of Germany might have to go to a German Embassy and apply for a student visa (see visa tips for how to apply for major study destinations student visas). Note that it is not possible to change a tourist or other visa into a student visa once you have entered Germany!
Medical Examination:
To apply for a student visa, the student must present a medical certificate. He may also be asked to present a health certificate when he wants to extend his resident permit.
High School Certificate:
Prospective international medical students to German medical schools must present originals and authenticated translation of high school certificate (Equivalent to the German Abitur) and documents as may be required by the school of choice.
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Financial Requirement:
Most international students coming to study in Germany are self-financing students. Even if students in Germany are allowed to work, this is only permitted for a very limited number of hours during the out of session (vacation) period. This is not enough to be able to completely finance university studies. DAAD scholarships allow some of the international students to cover their expenses while studying in Germany.
STATUS OF STUDIENKOLLEG STUDENTS – PREPARATORY COURSES
Students admitted to any university Studienkollegs automatically have the status of registered (Matriculated) students of the respective university. However, the time spent studying at the studienkolleg cannot be credited to their later academic studies in Germany.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS TO STUDY MEDICINE IN GERMANY
* Average Cost of living: €850.
* Average Administration fees: €300.
* Average Tuition fees: €1,500/€3,500 per academic year.
* You have to block: €8640.
* Monthly gym membership: €20 monthly.
MEDICAL GRADUATE AVERAGE EARNINGS
* Graduate yearly salary: €33000/€58000.
* Specialist earns around €80,000 per year
* A physician earns more than €100,000 per year.
TOP-RANKED MEDICAL SCHOOLS IN GERMANY
Most public universities in Germany date back to the middle ages, bearing a significant tradition of qualitative education, and prominent names in various academic disciplines. Other institutions were either founded after the Second World War or fairly recently, including most of the private universities in Germany.
Here is the list of some top universities in Germany offering medical courses;
* Heidelberg University
* Rwth Aachen University
* Lübeck University
* Witten/Hercke University
* Magdeburg University
* Münster University
* Würzburg Universitysbf
* Tübingen University
* Freiburg University
* Leipzig University
ADVANTAGES OF STUDYING MEDICINE IN GERMANY
Future Projects:
Staying in Germany after your studies gives you an opportunity to seek for a job after your graduation. The law allows international graduates to stay for an additional 18 months to seek work, and you may even end up staying longer if that is what you want. See some of our study in Germany Opportunities
Student Work Opportunities:
Studying in Germany doesn’t come totally free – you still need to meet the living costs. Therefore many international students tend to look for jobs to support themselves while studying. It is very easy for EU students to find a job, as there are no limitations whatsoever. Meanwhile, students from non-EU countries have to apply for a work permit, and their working hours are limited to 190 full days or 240 half days per year.
Students from countries outside of the EU, EEA or Switzerland are not permitted to work freelance or be self-employed. However, this has seldom been an issue since Germany is a very well-developed country where the economy supports thousands of new jobs every day, giving the majority of international students, the possibility of finding a decent job is optimistic.
Industry-Affiliated Learning:
It’s worth mentioning that practice-oriented universities in Germany have agreements with great companies, providing students with internships. These may not always be paid but could lead to a great future after opportunity after obtaining your degree.
Practice-Oriented Studies:
Similarly, universities in Germany are known to excel in both infrastructure and curriculum; they also have optimal facilities providing contemporary technology and diversified professional staff that contributes to the compounding enlightening curriculum, which ensures promising future generations of experts, regardless of the discipline. Innovation, international cooperation, and practice-oriented studies are considered to be the revolutionary roads to a world-class education.
DISADVANTAGES OF STUDYING IN GERMANY
Studying medicine in Germany could have many barriers and challenges. Here are some of what we could gather from those who have studied or are still studying at a university in Germany.
Structure of the Course:
This is not necessarily a disadvantage of studying in Germany but something that has to be considered by an International student before making the decision to study there. The way universities work in Germany might be different than, for example, American institutes or Nigeria institutions. As such, it is important that students pay close attention to the academic regulations. You might have a lot of independent work to do or have to register for an exam yourself. If you do not register for it, you miss your attempt.
Learning the Language:
A medical training program takes six years to complete and is conducted entirely in German, so you’ll need a strong knowledge of the language. You will also need a University Entrance Qualification / your Secondary School Leaving Certificate. If you’re from the EU, your school leaving certificate should be generally accepted as equivalent to the German certificate. However, non-EU students will need to check that their qualification is eligible, if it’s not, you may need to attend the Studienkolleg (one-year preparatory course) and sit for the Feststellungsprüfung exam.
Many students fail to understand why learning German could be of value to them. To put it into perspective, in Europe, there are more German speakers than Italian, French, or Spanish. German is the language of many iconic personalities, such as Kafka and Nietzsche. It was also spoken and written by Freud, Mozart, Beethoven, and Einstein. Germany is the second larger exporter in the world and is also one of the leaders in the engineering and science fields. Learning the language may not be easy, but if you want to study in Germany then there may be no other way out!
Lack of Good Facilities:
Many public universities in Germany are not well equipped (possibly owing to the Free Tuition Study in Germany). For example, you may not find laboratories with high-tech computers at your disposal or a very well organized student center. Even when these facilities are present, they might be costly for students.
Working Limits:
This to me is a great disadvantage. Non-European students enrolled at a German university are only allowed to work 120 full days or 240 half-days. If there is a need for working more, students need to get permission from German employment authorities and the request may be rejected.
Money Factor:
Although there is no tuition fee, the German government doesn’t want you to be in a situation where you give more importance to earning money during your study period, so you are required to block 8640 Euros in your blocked account in Germany. To overcome this barrier, the option would be to get a partial or fully funded scholarship before you begin your study journey, in the case you cannot afford such cost.
WHAT YOU MAY NOT KNOW
I generally could not decide on what to title this part of the conversation so I went with the first thing that came to my mind. “What you may not know”. So what you may not know, summarily, are as follows:
- Only master’s in medical studies is available in the English language.
- You may also not know that it takes six years and three months of full-time study to complete a medical degree in Germany
- And that the main admission requirements are high school diploma and Germany language skills.
- You also may not know that non-EU countries have to apply for a work permit, and their working hours are limited to 190 full days or 240 half days per year.
- Lastly, most medical schools in Germany apply two application falls; 15 July for the upcoming winter semester and 15 January for the upcoming summer semester.
Thus far, with the information given here, you may want to take advantage of the Free Tuition Study in Germany. Or consider studying medicine in Germany.