Medicine and Surgery

About the course

A six-year, single-cycle master’s degree in medicine, taught entirely in English by the University of Padua’s School of Medicine and Surgery at its Venice seat. It is Padua’s original English-taught medicine course; the separate MedTech course is taught in Padua. Graduates qualify as doctors under EU rules.

Entry requirements for Irish students

• The call asks for a secondary school diploma or a foreign qualification that is recognised as giving access to university. It does not publish a fixed Irish Leaving Certificate requirement, so check the university’s ‘Study in English: enrolment’ guidance and contact admissions to confirm.
• Entry is by a national admission test in English, the same test at every site, with places awarded by ranking. In 2026 it had 60 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes: 23 biology, 15 chemistry, 13 physics and maths, 5 logical reasoning and 4 reading skills.
• English: you need a B2 certificate from an approved body (for example Cambridge, IELTS or TOEFL). Students who completed at least one school year taught in English automatically meet the requirement, so most Irish applicants should be covered. Confirm this in the call.

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. Watch for the 2027 callCheck Padua’s English Medicine and Surgery admissions page from summer 2027 for the call for admissions.
2. Register on UniversitalyIn 2026, registration ran from late August to 9 September. Choose the Venice seat and pay the admission fee.
3. Sit the admission testIn 2026 the national test was on 29 September. Prepare for biology, chemistry, physics and maths, logic and reading.
4. Enrol on UniwebIf your national ranking earns you a place, enrol on Padua’s Uniweb portal and pay the EUR 208 first instalment by the deadline.

Costs

• EU students pay income-based fees. For 2026/27, the University of Padua charges between EUR 0 and about EUR 3,000 a year, depending on your family’s financial circumstances (ISEE). The first instalment is EUR 208 (EUR 192 regional tax and EUR 16 stamp duty), paid when you enrol. The later instalments, due 15 February and 15 May, depend on your course and circumstances. You also pay an admission fee when you register for the test on Universitaly; the call does not say how much. Fees for 2027/28 are not yet published.

At a glance