Medicine (MD)

About the course

A six-year Medical Doctor (MD) programme (equivalent to a master’s degree) taught in English in Riga, with clinical training in Latvian hospitals. Selection is based on school results, two recommendation letters and a motivation letter.

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. RSU’s general rule for Medicine is at least 70% in English, at least 70% in Chemistry and at least 70% in Biology, with Mathematics compulsory and Physics preferred. Each subject must have been studied for at least two semesters in secondary school. RSU converts foreign grades to percentages using minimum grade levels set for each country in its admissions procedure.
• There is no entrance exam for Medicine. RSU assesses applicants on their compulsory school subjects plus two letters of recommendation and a letter of motivation (on the RSU form). The online motivational interview is only required for non-EU/EEA applicants.
• English at B2 level or higher is required. Applicants whose secondary school taught through English do not need to prove it, and EU/EEA school leavers can use a very good or excellent English grade from their school transcript. Otherwise RSU accepts tests such as IELTS 6.0 or TOEFL iBT 80, taken within the last 5 years.

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. Check subjectsMake sure you are taking Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and English (Physics is preferred) and are on track for strong grades. Contact admissions@rsu.lv to confirm how your Leaving Cert grades will be converted.
2. Prepare documentsGet your passport or ID, two recommendation letters and a motivation letter on the official RSU forms, and your school transcript or results. Pay the EUR 100 application fee.
3. Apply onlineApply through the RSU e-Admissions portal. The September intake window is listed as 1 March to 1 July 2027, and the February 2027 intake runs from 4 September to 1 December 2026. Apply early, as places are limited.
4. Accept and payIf you get an offer, pay the EUR 1,800 registration fee and the first semester’s tuition within two weeks.

Costs

• EUR 13,500 per year for 2026/27 (the same for EU and non-EU students, as English-taught places are fee-paying). There is also a one-off non-refundable application fee of EUR 100 and a one-off non-refundable registration administration fee of EUR 1,800, which applies to Medicine and Dentistry. Tuition is paid per semester, before each semester starts. The first payment is due within two weeks of your offer. The 2027/28 fee was not yet published when we checked, so confirm all amounts on the RSU tuition-fees page.

At a glance