Medicine (MD), taught in English

About the course

A 6-year (12-semester) full-time medical degree taught entirely in English at the School of Medicine in Olsztyn. The school says students get clinical experience from first year, with rotations across 6 hospitals in Olsztyn.

Entry requirements for Irish students

• Applicants are ranked on the total points from three school-leaving subjects: Biology (compulsory) plus two chosen from Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics or English. The university publishes a Leaving Certificate conversion scale: Higher Level H1 = 200, H2 = 178, H3 = 158, H4 = 138, H5 = 118, H6 = 98, H7 = 78, H8 = 0; Ordinary Level O1 = 100, O2 = 89, O3 = 79, O4 = 69, O5 = 59, O6 = 49, O7 = 39, O8 = 0. So a Higher Level grade earns double the Ordinary Level points. No minimum score is published.
• Competency exam in English (Biology plus Chemistry or Physics) for applicants whose grades cannot be converted on the university’s scale. Sample questions are on the School of Medicine website. You can also apply with IB (min. 24), EB (min. 60), MCAT (min. 495), UCAT (min. 1980), GAMSAT (min. 50) or NEET (min. 288) instead of school grades.
• English: CEFR B2 minimum, for example IELTS 5.5, TOEFL iBT 72 or PTE Academic 59. Ask admissions whether your Leaving Certificate English is accepted instead.

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. Register on IRKCreate an account on the UWM IRK portal, choose Medicine in English, then print and sign the application form. For 2026 the first phase ran from 3 Nov 2025 to 12 May 2026.
2. Pay the fee and upload documentsPay the 85 PLN recruitment fee. Upload your Leaving Certificate with an Apostille, proof of English at B2, criminal record certificates and a copy of your passport photo page.
3. RankingYou are ranked on Biology plus two of Chemistry, Maths, Physics or English, using the university’s Leaving Certificate conversion scale. Irish results come out in late August, so check which phase fits your timing, and ask whether predicted grades are accepted.
4. Accept and enrolIf you get an offer, pay the tuition as instructed and bring all original documents to Olsztyn to be checked on arrival. The course starts in October.

Costs

• The IRK portal lists the cost of studies as 63,000 PLN for the 2026/27 intake (roughly 14,800 euro). It does not say ‘per year’, but the School of Medicine describes an approximate annual tuition fee of 15,000 euro, so it is taken as a yearly fee. EU students pay it too, as this is a fee-paying English-language programme. There is also a recruitment (application) fee of 85 PLN (about 20 euro), paid by bank transfer.

At a glance