Medicine and Surgery (single-cycle degree, LM-41, English-taught)

About the course

A six-year single-cycle degree in Medicine and Surgery (360 credits), taught in English at the University of Messina in Sicily. Clinical training takes place at the University Hospital of Messina and in GP surgeries, and entry is through the national IMAT exam.

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. The university asks for a secondary school diploma recognised as equivalent to the Italian diploma.
• Entry is by the IMAT, the national admissions test. It lasts 100 minutes and has 60 multiple-choice questions: 4 on reading skills and general knowledge, 5 on logical reasoning, 38 on biology and chemistry, and 13 on physics and maths. Each correct answer gets 1.5 points, each wrong answer loses 0.4, and blank answers score 0. If you score below 25% in biology, chemistry or physics, you are given extra study requirements in first year.
• English: native English speakers meet the requirement automatically; non-native speakers need a B2 (CEFR) certificate. You do not need Italian 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 to UniMESubmit your application on both the UniME Application Portal and Universitaly. In the 2026 cycle the deadline was 20 July 2026, and you could not register for the IMAT without it.
2. Register for the IMATRegister for the IMAT on Universitaly, choose Messina and pay the fee. In 2026 the window ran from 26 August to 9 September (3pm Italian time).
3. Sit the IMATIn 2026 the test was on 29 September at the UniME Papardo Campus in Messina (entry from 11am, start 1.30pm). Follow the university’s instructions on what ID to bring.
4. Follow the ranking and enrolWatch for the ranking and follow-up offer notices from UniME, then enrol and pay the registration tax (156 euro) by the deadline given.

Costs

• Fees at this Italian state university depend on family income (ISEE). For 2026/27 the annual contribution (COA) runs from 200 euro in the lowest band to a fixed 2,650 to 2,850 euro for families above 60,000 euro ISEE, depending on the student’s category. On top of this there is a registration tax of 156 euro (140 euro regional tax and 16 euro stamp duty), due by 30 September 2026. The university does not say how EU students without an Italian ISEE assessment are placed, so the maximum of 2,850 euro is shown here. Paying the contribution in one go by 29 January 2027 gives a 20% reduction; otherwise it is paid in three instalments. There is also a separate IMAT registration fee, paid on Universitaly. Confirm your own fee with the university.

At a glance