Medicine, Full-time Graduate Program (MD)

About the course

A 12-semester (6-year) MD programme taught in English at the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Medicine. The early years cover the preclinical sciences and the later years include clinical training.

Entry requirements for Irish students

• The university assesses the Irish Leaving Certificate individually and does not publish a fixed Irish requirement. Contact admissions to confirm. You apply with your secondary school certificate and transcripts (in English or translated).
• Entrance exam in English: a written test (multiple choice, definitions, calculations; 45 minutes per subject) in Biology plus either Chemistry or Physics, followed by an oral exam in the same subjects. Completing the university’s Basic Medicine Course is an alternative route in.
• English: a standardised certificate at B2 level or above from a proctored exam, and your English is also assessed at the entrance exam.

Working in Ireland afterwards

Because your medical degree comes from an EU/EEA country, the Medical Council of Ireland can recognise it automatically under EU Directive 2005/36/EC, as long as it is listed in Annex V (point 5.1.1). If that listing says the degree must come with an internship or state-exam certificate from your home country, you need to have that too, and you must also show your current professional standing and meet the English-language requirements. Graduates of EU/EEA medical schools may apply to the HSE for Irish intern posts, but only if their home-country degree does not already count as complete training. In older HSE intern guides (e.g., the 2022 guide), only graduates from medical schools in Ireland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Iceland and Slovenia could apply. Graduates from other EEA countries (and Italians holding the ‘abilitante’ degree) were told they are not eligible, because they qualify directly for General registration. Applicants who need no work permit were matched before those who do. Please check the current eligibility list in the HSE intern guide for the year you apply. We could not confirm it for the July 2027 intake because the current HSE guide pages are password-protected.

How to apply

1. Prepare documentsGather your Leaving Cert results or school transcripts, proof of citizenship, CV, medical certificate and B2 English certificate. Review the Biology, Chemistry and Physics exam topics on the university website.
2. Apply onlineApply through the university’s online application once the September 2027 intake opens (later in 2026) and pay the USD 150 application fee. The deadline is 15 May 2027, but apply early because the 2026 intake closed ahead of its deadline.
3. Sit the entrance examPay the USD 350 entrance fee and sit the written and oral exam in Biology plus Chemistry or Physics, in Hungary, at an exam site abroad or online. The result is admission to Year 1, a place on the Basic Medicine Course, or rejection.
4. EnrolOnce admitted, pay the first-year tuition in full, register your residence as an EU citizen and start in September 2027.

Costs

• USD 16,900 per year (about EUR 14,500, depending on the exchange rate) on the 2026/27 fee list. The university publishes one fee for all students and no lower EU rate, so Irish students pay the same fee. There is also a one-off, non-refundable application fee of USD 150 (about EUR 130) and an entrance exam fee of USD 350 (about EUR 300). The university says health insurance, the medical check-up and the student card are included in the tuition fee. First-year students must pay the full year up front; from second year you can ask to pay in two instalments. Fees for 2027/28 are not yet published.

At a glance