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Study medicine abroad

Any advice on applying for medicine abroad? Best universities in Europe with UK recognised medical degree? Seen so many agencies promising entry but not sure which are reliable or not?
Original post by IF-Manchester
Any advice on applying for medicine abroad? Best universities in Europe with UK recognised medical degree? Seen so many agencies promising entry but not sure which are reliable or not?


I graduated from the Medical University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is pretty well recognised in the UK so you shouldn’t have a problem registering with the GMC after graduating if you choose to go there.
Original post by doctordraws
I graduated from the Medical University of Plovdiv in Bulgaria. Bulgaria is pretty well recognised in the UK so you shouldn’t have a problem registering with the GMC after graduating if you choose to go there.

Thanks. How was the course there? Did you feel it was set up well and feel supported as a UK student with no experience living there before? Was clinical experience ok? Did you apply via an agency?
First two years were theory. Third year onwards is clinical and content heavy. You’re expected to study and be prepared for classes.
Clinical experience was ok overall. The consultants translate for you during contact with patients. You do learn Bulgarian in the first two years so the more you know the better.

It’s set up well for international students. Majority of the students were from UK.

The agency I applied through are not running anymore but there are still others around.

Are you planning on going abroad?
Original post by doctordraws
First two years were theory. Third year onwards is clinical and content heavy. You’re expected to study and be prepared for classes.
Clinical experience was ok overall. The consultants translate for you during contact with patients. You do learn Bulgarian in the first two years so the more you know the better.

It’s set up well for international students. Majority of the students were from UK.

The agency I applied through are not running anymore but there are still others around.

Are you planning on going abroad?


Yes - Plovdiv was one of the places I looked at. Bulgaria seemed more favourable in terms of cost of living, fees etc in comparison to for example Czech Republic. Was concerned about the practical aspects though - struggling with language barriers, not feeling supported as a uk student abroad, and not doing as well as I would have in the UK. And then struggling to adjust back in the UK. Had no medicine offers here - got AAB for my results last week. Taking a year out to explore all my options rather than just doing a different course here in the UK as really wanted medicine.
Original post by IF-Manchester
Yes - Plovdiv was one of the places I looked at. Bulgaria seemed more favourable in terms of cost of living, fees etc in comparison to for example Czech Republic. Was concerned about the practical aspects though - struggling with language barriers, not feeling supported as a uk student abroad, and not doing as well as I would have in the UK. And then struggling to adjust back in the UK. Had no medicine offers here - got AAB for my results last week. Taking a year out to explore all my options rather than just doing a different course here in the UK as really wanted medicine.


Fair enough. Yh the cost of living is very cheap in Bulgaria.
I didn’t struggle too much adjusting back in the UK. Sure the first month was hard but that’s normal when starting in a completely new system. Besides, a large percentage of the NHS have trained from outside the uk anyway.

Have you considered retaking the subject you got a B in and reapplying this year?
Does anybody have any experience of studying in the Czech Republic? I heard the cost of living is cheap there and you don’t have to pay much for education.
I have been to Prague once, and it’s a great city. I would like to become an EKG technician because it’s not a very hard job but well paid. ekg technicians can make a great salary here in the UK. I have always wanted to have a medicine-related profession, and this one seems to fit me more than the others.
What do you think about the Czech Republic? Is it worth it, or should I choose Bulgaria instead?
(edited 2 years ago)
Original post by doctordraws
Fair enough. Yh the cost of living is very cheap in Bulgaria.
I didn’t struggle too much adjusting back in the UK. Sure the first month was hard but that’s normal when starting in a completely new system. Besides, a large percentage of the NHS have trained from outside the uk anyway.

Have you considered retaking the subject you got a B in and reapplying this year?


Yes will be doing that but need a contingency backup plan. Very mindful that the Med schools here don’t pay much attention to re-sitters. Bulgaria looking like a good plan.
Original post by IF-Manchester
Yes will be doing that but need a contingency backup plan. Very mindful that the Med schools here don’t pay much attention to re-sitters. Bulgaria looking like a good plan.


Fair enough! I had some of the best years of my life in Bulgaria so definitely a good alternative for anyone who doesn’t get in the UK.
Hiya,

I'm currently studying in Comenius in Bratislava, Slovakia. Definitely not a bad option to do Med Abroad. It will have some challenges and I won't lie I have faced some difficulties with studying as some professors are not as well versed. But overall, the student support is massive and they want an overall all round development from students. The only problem I had was studying during COVID where lectures were online and there was a sort of block between students and teachers
Any idea what was the cut off score for MU Plovdiv ( out of 36) for exam held in September 2021 and how many students were admitted.

There is not much information available on the website for these EU unis.
Reply 11
Does anyone know about studying medicine at Varna university in Bulgaria as well? Thinking of going as I got my results last week and I would have to retake to stay in the UK?
Original post by hugocoktail
Does anybody have any experience of studying in the Czech Republic? I heard the cost of living is cheap there and you don’t have to pay much for education.
I have been to Prague once, and it’s a great city. I would like to become an EKG technician because it’s not a very hard job but well paid. ekg technicians can make a great salary here in the UK. I have always wanted to have a medicine-related profession, and this one seems to fit me more than the others.
What do you think about the Czech Republic? Is it worth it, or should I choose Bulgaria instead?


Personally, I would choose Czech over Bulgaria as their universities have a lot better ranking, better funded and have a more rigorous program. I've been studying medicine in Czech for the last 6 years. Czech unis do have their negatives though...unfortunately they do have a high drop out rate due to the difficulty of certain exams and there is not a lot of help from professors. A lot of friends who dropped out did leave + go to Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania. It really depends on what your highest priorities are when choosing a university. My advice is to apply to as many universities all over the EU as possible, see where you get into and go from there.

The doctor who graduated from Bulgaria (congrats btw) is right though, in that most of the NHS is made up of foreign doctors and the UK does tend to classify all doctors from EU universities as the same. Your preclinical knowledge should be stronger than uk counterparts (because you are forced to study to avoid being kicked out/dropped) but the clinical skills will be a lot weaker due to the language barrier and not as much help from professors.
Hey does anyone know anything about studying medicine in greece specifically at uni of aristotle medical school in thessaloniki
Original post by doctordraws
First two years were theory. Third year onwards is clinical and content heavy. You’re expected to study and be prepared for classes.
Clinical experience was ok overall. The consultants translate for you during contact with patients. You do learn Bulgarian in the first two years so the more you know the better.

It’s set up well for international students. Majority of the students were from UK.

The agency I applied through are not running anymore but there are still others around.

Are you planning on going abroad?

when did you graduate?
Original post by IF-Manchester
Any advice on applying for medicine abroad? Best universities in Europe with UK recognised medical degree? Seen so many agencies promising entry but not sure which are reliable or not?

hi how much are the fees how ru gonna fund it?
Reply 16
I found this agency online called ESLS. I have a few friends who have worked with them and they seem to be great, from what I know a family run business. All my friends got places and they also help with anything during the course of the studies as well from what I've heard. They've got a free webinar on Wednesday that I can't attend annoyingly you should check them out. This is where I found the webinars - webinars.esls.co.uk 🙂 hope this helps
Original post by IF-Manchester
Any advice on applying for medicine abroad? Best universities in Europe with UK recognised medical degree? Seen so many agencies promising entry but not sure which are reliable or not?

Hey, for me if you want to study there are some countries that have good universities like Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Georgia all of those have good universities with a high education level and I really know some universities that are worth having a look about them DM me if you want.
Original post by Tuppence111
Hey, for me if you want to study there are some countries that have good universities like Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, and Georgia all of those have good universities with a high education level and I really know some universities that are worth having a look about them DM me if you want.

oh hey !
im curious to travel abroad because yk its fun to learn new cultures so could u please send me a list specifically for neurology


thank u

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