General Medicine (MUDr.), English-language programme

About the course

A six-year (12-term), English-taught programme leading to the title Doctor of General Medicine (MUDr.), equivalent to an MD. The programme has run in English for more than 30 years. In the final years, practical training takes place at the Teaching Hospital in Košice, and the programme ends with state examinations.

Entry requirements for Irish students

• The faculty does not publish a specific Irish Leaving Certificate grade requirement, because admission is decided by the entrance exam. Your school-leaving certificate must be notarised, apostilled and officially translated into Slovak, and the application checklist lists it among the documents to submit with your application. Leaving Certificate results come out in late August, so ask admissions how and when Irish applicants should submit it.
• The entrance exam is a written multiple-choice test in English on biology and chemistry: 200 questions (100 in each subject) in 2.5 hours, marked out of 800 points. The pass mark is usually 75%. The exam is held in person in Košice.
• The faculty asks for a good command of English, because teaching is in English. It does not publish a specific English test or score.

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 onlineRegister and apply at e-prihlaska.upjs.sk and pay the EUR 30 application and exam fee. For 2026 the deadlines were 29 July and 22 August, depending on the exam session. The 2027 dates are not yet published.
2. Send your documentsSubmit the attachment form, a medical certificate, a copy of your passport, and your school-leaving certificate, notarised and apostilled with a sworn Slovak translation. Confirm with admissions when Irish applicants must supply the Leaving Certificate.
3. Sit the entrance examTake the biology and chemistry multiple-choice test in Košice (200 questions, 2.5 hours). The pass mark is usually 75%.
4. Enrol and pay feesIf you are admitted, enrol and pay the annual tuition fee (EUR 13,000 at the 2026/27 rate), arrange health insurance and register your residence in Slovakia.

Costs

• EUR 13,000 per academic year for 2026/27, set by Rector’s Decision No. 3/2026. This is the fee for studying General Medicine in a language other than Slovak, so EU students, including Irish students, pay it. There is also a non-refundable application and entrance exam fee of EUR 30 for electronic applications. Fees for 2027/28 have not yet been published.

At a glance