How to become a doctor in Europe without a student loan
I share my personal experience of moving to Europe and graduating from one of the best medical universities in German-speaking countries.
In third-world countries, medical degrees are often not as good as they should be and the salary as a doctor is not high enough to ensure good life quality. The corrupt university system and lack of financing do not allow students to get a first-rate education. Furthermore, language barriers and strict legal regulations don’t allow medical students and applicants to quickly move to countries with the developed healthcare system for a higher salary and better working conditions.
Education is a big for-profit industry in most English-speaking countries and has high tuition fees. Ten years of studying and a relatively small salary at the beginning of a doctor's career seem to be a hedge for many students. In this case, education may result in a student loan that can be paid out only by the end of residency or even later.
Anyway, it’s possible to find a solution. If you are okay with paying the student loan or don’t want to move away from your home country, that’s fine. If you are a good specialist, a job as a doctor allows you to live a good life everywhere in the world. Still, suppose you are curious about finding options for a better degree. In that case, I’m happy to share with you my personal experience of moving to Austria - a country with one of the best European healthcare systems and the highest salaries.
Why is it worth moving to a German-speaking country as a medical student?
First of all, high quality of education and progressive teaching methods ensure you get the latest knowledge of high-end medicine. A developed healthcare system will help you pursue your career goals and become a specialist. The monthly salary in residency starts with around €3000-4000 / month (ca. $3400-4600). At the same time, a highly developed social system with healthcare plans enables a high-quality life already for half of your salary.
Find a university
If you know German to at least present yourself and ask a stranger on the street how to find a way, that’s enough for the beginning. Germany’s and Austrian universities provide foundational programs to improve your German level in 1-2 years before entering your studies. In Vienna, that would be Vorstudienlehrgang der Wiener Universitäten (just google it), in Germany Studienkollegs.
You could choose Germany if all your notes are A+. Perfect grades are the most critical admission requirement, while there are almost no entrance exams. Austria is a better option, if not all of your notes are perfect, as the entrance exam is the only thing that matters.
If you don’t want to learn German to study medicine, that’s fine, and you definitely can find some programs and English. However, most programs in English are designed for international students and have higher tuition fees. For example, a national medical university in Bratislava in Slovakia with a study program in English requires a tuition fee of about 10.000 USD a year. That’s still more affordable than most US Universities. One of the most significant advantages of the European Union is that your diploma is legitimate across all EU countries.
I would shift back to the Medical University of Vienna as I have personal experience regarding this one.
Application process
All you need is:
School graduation certificate - your grades don’t matter.
Confirmation that you can be enrolled at the medical university in your country. You can take this one at any University in your country. It doesn’t have to confirm your university admission. It’s more of a formal letter that you fulfill the requirements of the study applicant.
German certificate A2 level (can be achieved from zero knowledge within three months).
That’s it. Send your application and wait for an invitation.
Moving to Austria
If your citizenship allows you to visit the EU with a visa-free period, you can apply for a student residency permit after you have arrived in Vienna. If not, you have to apply for a Visa D through the Austrian embassy in your country, which allows you to enter Austria and pick up your visa here. The list of all necessary documents you can find on the official website of the Austrian embassy in your country.
Suppose you apply to the University after studying medicine for 2-3 years in your country and already have German language knowledge C1. In that case, you can register for the entrance exam, usually in July.
If you apply directly after high school, you might have to take special courses for international students of Vienna Universities on maths, chemistry, biology, and physics to catch up the level of the Austrian school. If you apply with German knowledge less than C1, you will also have to visit German courses to get a C1 certificate. Depending on your knowledge of German and your school leaving certificate, this foundational program will take 1-4 semesters, after which you could try yourself at the entrance exam.
Entrance Exam TL;DR
You can find all information about the exam on its official site, including task examples and preparation literature:
https://www.medizinstudieren.at
You find preparation material, books, and question examples on the website. I would suggest learning at least six months, better one year to the exam. Take your time. Start learning 1-2 hours daily and increase learning time 3-4 months before the exam to 30-40 hours a week.
The test has basic knowledge as well as a cognitive skills module. You don’t have to be a genius to pass the second one. You can train yourself for specific tasks for the exams (like memorizing a patient’s information and then reproducing it later).
You can buy books with sample tasks online. Google for “MedAT Übungen”.
There is a lot of preparational material, lists of topics, tasks samples, and other stuff to prepare for the exam. If you take enough time, your chances to pass it are pretty high.
You’ve passed it!
If you have passed the test and accomplished being in the first 660 places in rating, congrats - you enter the 6-year path of becoming a doctor. If you did not go through, you can study something else for one year, apply for the exam again next year, or try a private university, although tuition fees will cost you between 10-20K annually.
Conclusion
To sum up, 20-30 students from non-EU countries begin to study at the medical university. Although this number may sound pretty small, there is also not much competition.
If you learn enough, you have a high chance of passing the exam. There are no tuition fees (or they might be under €1500 a year, depending on your country of origin). Since you are allowed to work as an international student, you need to have enough financing for your first year of living to get integrated into society and acclimatize.
In the following stories, I will share my experience as a doctor and why it was an excellent decision to move to Austria.
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Hi Konstantin,
Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm an american university student whos currently studying biochemistry. I'm actually really interested in doing this but don't know German. Would you reccomend getting to C1 in German before applying? Also, do you know of any American students who followed the same path? Thank you again!