r/medicalschoolEU • u/wigglepizza • 2d ago
Discussion How difficult is getting into med school in your country?
I'm curious what's the process like where you live.
In Poland you get in solely based on score from high school finals (you can retake them as an adult as many times as you please).
Most universities take your score in biology and chemistry but some will accept maths or physics. There are no bonus points for research, volunteering, sports. Only if you're a winner of a national subject olympiad you can get in unconditionally but those olympiads are way harder than high school finals obviously.
There's been a big increase in the number of spots at medical universities so at the moment, if you score above 80% in both subjects you should get in into most universities in the country, maybe with the exception of like top 5.
Score above 80% is not easy to get but totally doable for someone who works hard and systematically.
It's worth mentioning I'm talking about government funded program, where you don't pay tuition. There are programs on government universities where you pay full tuition and you can get into these with scores as low as 55-60% from both subjects. Their cost vary but it's around 100k USD for the entire 6 years.
All in all, I'd say it's relatively easy to get into medical school in Poland if you're a citizen.
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u/sadenaakka 2d ago edited 2d ago
In Finland, you can either apply with your matriculation examination diploma (national exams taken at the end of high school), if you haven't previously accepted a spot in higher education, or anyone eligible can apply with an entrance exam held once a year. To get in with the diploma, you need top results in all mandatory topics and two extra ones. To get in with the exam, you need to ace the exam, where wrong answers cost you points and you are battling the line of being time-efficient and avoiding mistakes for 4,5 hours. It's biology, chemistry and physics applied with a psychological toll of working under pressure and oddly phrased questions where you need to read everything very carefully to make sure you understood correctly. You can only use a basic digital calculator.
The number of unique applicants is usually around 7000 to 8000, of which 6,5k are usually applicants whose first choice is med school. The number of accepted applicants is set at 826 nationally, but some (<10) additional spots might appread due to the scoring system. Around 50% of those spots are given to those applying with a diploma, then from the exam half are given to those who haven't previously accepted a spot in higher education.
Edit: so yeah, it can be pretty difficult. The average number of application years stood at 2,8 a few years ago. I have friends who applied for 5 years before they got accepted, and on the other hand I have friends who got in at their first attempt. Some try for years and never get in. :/
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u/Prior-Actuator-8110 2d ago
In Spain its hard you need to get insane marks like 13 out of 14 to get into public medical schools. Many people tries PAU exams different years to increase their marks, or doing FP after Bachillerato in order to increase their marks as well.
Its not easy to get into private medical schools neither, you still needs great scores (not that high) but still. Plus they're expensive like 19-23K for every year. So the whole degree can cost up to 120K. So unless your family have money its probably not worth since residents for 1st year with calls are getting paid around 2K per month.
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u/Afraid-Way1203 2d ago
In Canada, applying to medical school is extremely competitive and difficult. You need an undergraduate GPA close to 3.9, an MCAT score above 515, and extensive extracurricular activities.
In Taiwan, the competition is equally fierce. Ideally, you should get into the the best ranked or top-ranked high school in each city, which is pretty difficult already. Even if your city's top-ranked high school recruited 1500 students from city, you should aim for becoming top 100 students out of 1500 students from the #1 best high school.
It's almost the best of the est
I have a friend studying in Poland and become a doctor later. I am glad he went to Poland and get a MD dgree from there. Otherwise it's almost impossible to become one.
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u/wigglepizza 2d ago
You have same mcat as in America?
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u/Afraid-Way1203 2d ago edited 1d ago
Canada also use MCAT and gpa and extra activity to assess.
Taiwan use University entrance exam , a difficult exam., you have to top 1 out of a thousand people...to be admited to med school. Like top 1500 out of 12 0000 people.
I have dual citizenship.
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u/Spinatknedl Year 6 - EU 2d ago
I'm Italian, but I'll answer for Austria since I'm studying there.
Admission depends solely on your performance in a nationwide entrance exam and on the quota category you belong to. There are separate quotas for Austrian applicants, EU nationals, and non-EU nationals. Depending on your quota, your chances of getting in differ, and so do the scores required for admission.
The exam lasts about 8 hours and is the same for every applicant. It tests knowledge in certain subjects as well as cognitive abilities and other skills.
For Austrian applicants, roughly one out of five candidates is admitted, although this can vary somewhat depending on the year and the university.
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u/ProcessRare3733 1d ago
Whatās the tuition like? Is it free for programs in the national language of the country?
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u/Spinatknedl Year 6 - EU 1d ago
There are no tuition fees, only the student union fee(+-25ā¬ per semester) if you're a European citizen. I have no idea about the fees for international students. The program is of course taught in German.
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u/DisastrousDoc952 Year 2 - Non-EU (Turkey) 2d ago edited 2d ago
Turkey: especially public schools are very hard for local students, absurdly easy for foreigners (maybe except very major schools). as I am a native I will mostly shed the light on the locals' situation.
so basically in Turkey the placement point consists of %90 of your entrance examination result and %10 of your high school marks. (special conditions in calculation or direct placement apply for successful Science Olympians, national athletes, and the disabled) the whole exam takes two days in 3-hour blocks, so 6 hours in total. You need to solve the elementary questions about every content in high school (except arts and some weird lessons that nobody remembers about)+advanced questions in math, biology, physics and chemistry. Basically a shortened version of Korean entrance examination, competition is as fierce for medicine, engineering, etc.
only top 50000 out of more than 2 million candidates are allowed to go to the medical school (this clear-cut is valid even for private schools). after this point it's about supply-demand rather than this kind of clear-cut barriers. only those within 25000 usually make their way into public schools, and established public schools, even in the eastern Turkey, usually do not get below top ~15000. the oldest schools in three big cities (Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir) usually don't get below top 5000. very prestigious private schools' full scholarship is usually taking from even lower, but most of the remaining are trash.
There is no such thing as applying/getting accepted to a school: you rank the schools based on the most plausible scenario for you and send the result to the central board, which then ranks automatically in their computers and announce the result. similar to the Match in the US but it's totally based on merit and universities have no say on this. (well except attending&getting banned from that particular university in the past -very hard- or a private university refusing to grant scholarship because you are an older graduate or graduated from an uni before).
A Turkish citizen who went through all this process and earned a spot in any formal course in public universities in Turkey is not required to pay any fees as long as they did not study a course in uni before or got their study term extended (even then they only pay for that extended part).
The dual-citizens and foreigners living in Turkey were able to take the foreigners' exam, which is very very easy, due to an intended loophole; whereas Turks who completed their high school in abroad were not allowed to do so. It had been fixed, and the situation is the opposite now, since the last year. but of course through this path they need to pay the foreigners' fee no matter what (usually between 5k-15k$ per year)
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u/thelord-sv 2d ago
As someone from India currently grinding to be a doctor, it is so surprising to hear about the process in other nations. Future doctors here go through absolute hell just to secure a medical college haha. There may be other nations with even worse competition, but India for sure comes in the top 5.
In India, the primary gateway to becoming a doctor is a single national entrance exam called NEET-UG (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test). It is an entirely multiple-choice test covering Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. Everything relies on this one exam since admissions in most institutes here (even non-medical) rely purely on scores.
The scale of the test is massive. Every year, almost 2.5 million students sit for the exam (it was 2.28 million this year, according to the conducting body NTA). They are all competing for a highly limited pool of roughly 55,000 to 60,000 government medical college seats, where tuition is heavily subsidized. This creates a situation where fewer than 2.5% of applicants manage to secure a government seat, of which not all of them are good.
Because of this intense competition, clearing the exam requires a monumental effort. It is absolutely necessary to begin preparation right at the start of 11th grade and grind consistently for two full years. The vast syllabus requires mastering two years' worth of advanced science concepts. In fact, the race starts even earlier for many. A significant number of students who end up topping the exam actually begin their foundation courses as early as 8th or 9th grade to get a head start on the material. Preparation for this exam has become no less than business for 'coaching institutes'. For families, qualifying this exam, in addition to the JEE for engineering, is seen as a symbol of prestige.
Given how high the stakes are, taking "drop years" is incredibly common. Thousands of students choose to graduate high school and then spend one, two, or even more years doing nothing but studying full-time to re-attempt the test.
If a student misses out on a government seat, the alternative is private medical colleges, but the financial barrier is staggering. Total fees for a private medical degree can easily range from 60 Lakhs to over 1 Crore INR ($75,000 to $100,000+ USD). When you look at the median annual household income in India, which is roughly 3 to 4 Lakhs INR (around 4000 USD), the cost of private medical education is completely out of reach for the average family. It represents decades of an average family's total earnings, leaving a government seat as the only realistic option for most.
If that still isn't enough, NEET-UG was conducted on 3 May this year, and got cancelled on 12 May due to an alleged paper-leak, so the entirity of 2.28 million people will have to retake it on 21 June.
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u/Sparr126da Year 4 - EU Italy 2d ago edited 2d ago
In Italy basically 1 out of 2 gets in since they massively increased sposts, if you don't get in a public university there are a multitude of new questionable private universities (es UniLink) that have opened up recently and they have problem filling in all the spots, so if you can afford you can basically buy your place without any studying.
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u/_--Ali--_ 2d ago
in kurdistan you can sit for the national exams and usually the cutoff is 98/100 of your total average across 7 subjects. you can also get in through A Levels, IB, and APs however the spots are less and the criteria is harder especially for APs as you need a 5 in Biology, Chemistry and Calculus AB or Physics (most do calculus). Both have their pros and cons.
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u/wigglepizza 2d ago
Turkish or Iraqi Kurdistan?
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u/DisastrousDoc952 Year 2 - Non-EU (Turkey) 2d ago edited 2d ago
Of course Iraqi, Turkey does not have such provisions for a geographic area (and mind you, even calling some place inside Turkey as Kurdistan is a very very controversial topic) within the countryāthere are some reserved spots for Northern Cyprus citizens who did not choose the foreigners' path, however. well there were some provisions for those affected in the earthquake zone in 2023 but didn't affect much.
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u/khuvuki_land 1d ago
South Africa has roughly 10 public university medical schools, each of about 200 student capacity per class per year. We have no private medical schools and also generally donāt grant access to foreign nationals - unless youāve been here your whole life or parents/grandparents are South African.
Getting in is obviously quite competitive. Nearly 1 million students write the grade 12 exiting exams and the country only has spots for about 2000 students per year (10 med schools x 200 spots)
Selection is based on two scores; your grade 12 exiting exams(weighed at 66%, and your National Benchmark Exams - a 6 hour exam - weighed at 33%). Given our past, we also have redress policies that ensure that medical school acceptance demographics are representative of the greater demographics of the country.
But generally speaking, getting above 80% average with distinctions in Maths, Physics and English, usually is enough to secure a spot in one of the universities. But for the more competitive universities like UCT, (number one in Africa, and top 100 internationally), Wits(usually second), UP, Stellies etc, you need to be getting an average of higher than 90% to get inā¦.
Programmes are generally 6 years( with the exception of the University of Free State, which is 5yrs) and we all graduate with an MBCHB.
The degree costs between 62 000 USD to 93 000 USD for the whole six years( and this is inclusive of both tuition + residential fees). Most of the students are either on a bursary or the National student fund. Students coming from more advantaged backgrounds usually pay out of pocket.
Salaries: Intern(first 3 years after med school): 3250 - 4000 USD per month.
Medical officer( basically when youāre officially a ādoctorā, working as a doctor but not currently in residency/registrarship): nothing less than 4000 USD.
Registrarship/residency (4 year training program usually): nothing less than 4000 USD, I think.
Consultant/Attending: around 6000 USD (ceiling is usually higher in private)
- these salary are all after-tax btw.
SAšæš¦is leading the African continent in as far as healthcare and education is concerned. Itās a privilege being South Africanš
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u/ApricotImmediate9735 17h ago
In kenya it's actually so easy, there are around 13 private and public medical schools, as long as you apply on time with decent high-school grades in bio and chem you will get in.
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u/Patrickwetsdfk 15h ago
In Italy, the admission system for Medicine changed starting with the 2025ā2026 academic year. The traditional national entrance exam has been abolished. Instead, students can freely enroll in a first-semester āopen semesterā without having to pass a pre-admission test.
During this semester, all students follow common courses in subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and related sciences. At the end of the semester, they must pass nationally standardized exams. Admission to continue in Medicine is then based on academic performance and a national ranking rather than on a single entrance test taken before enrollment.
In practice, the selection process has not disappeared; it has simply moved from before university entry to after the first semester. Students who achieve sufficiently high results and rank well nationally can continue in Medicine, while those who do not can usually continue in a related degree programme and make use of the credits they have already earned.
The reform was introduced with the aim of giving more students the opportunity to begin medical studies before being evaluated, while still maintaining a merit-based selection system for progression into the later years of the degree.
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u/Dangerous-Bunch-3114 2d ago
In India this year around 2.5mil students applied for the entrance exam and there are only around 60k spots in govt unis other than that you'll need to spend alot to study in a private and also the exam got leaked so now all the students will be giving it again on 21st š„š„