Medicine and Surgery (Rome campus, taught in English)

About the course

A six-year single-cycle degree (Laurea Magistrale in Medicina e Chirurgia, 360 ECTS) taught entirely in English at the Rome campus, with training at Gemelli Hospital. Hospital clinical training starts in year 4, and the university says the curriculum supports preparation for USMLE Step 1 and Step 2.

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. In general you need at least 12 years of schooling in total and a school-leaving diploma that gives access to university in the country that awards it, and you must have it by the enrolment deadline.
• Cattolica runs its own entrance exam, taken online from home and supervised online (Proctor Exam). In the 2026 cycle it had 65 multiple-choice questions in 65 minutes: 20 logical reasoning, 18 biology, 12 chemistry, 5 ethical-religious culture, 4 maths, 4 physics and 2 general knowledge. A correct answer scores +1, a wrong answer -0.25 and a blank 0. You need at least 20 out of 65 to be admitted.
• English: IELTS Academic 6.0, TOEFL iBT 80, Cambridge First (FCE) grade B, or Cambridge Advanced (CAE) or Proficiency (CPE). You are exempt if all your secondary school classes were taught in English and your school confirms this officially. You need the certificate to enrol, not to apply.

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. Apply onlineThe 2027/28 competition call is published on 14 October 2026. Create an account on the Cattolica online application portal, upload your documents, choose the EU pool and pay the €210 application fee by 17 February 2027.
2. Sit the online testTake the Cattolica admission test online from home on 17 March 2027 (2026 format: 65 questions in 65 minutes, minimum 20/65). Use the practice simulator included with your application.
3. Check the EU rankingThe EU ranking is released on 7 April 2027. If you are offered a place, pay the €4,000 pre-enrolment fee within the deadline in the competition call (two weeks in the 2026 cycle).
4. EnrolSend the enrolment documents listed in the competition call, including your Leaving Certificate and English proof or school confirmation, by the enrolment deadline, and plan your move to Rome for September 2027.

Costs

• Tuition is a fixed €18,150 per year, the same for all students whatever their nationality. The university says there are currently no scholarships or fee waivers for this programme, and the UCSC International Scholarship does not apply to it. The fee page does not say which academic year this fee is for. There is also a non-refundable €210 application fee, which gives you access to an online practice simulator with about 3,000 questions. If you are offered a place, you pay a €4,000 pre-enrolment fee (first instalment of tuition) within two weeks of the results. The €210 fee, the simulator and the two-week payment window are 2026/27 figures. Cattolica is a private university, so these fees apply to EU students too.

At a glance