Where to study medicine

Numerous universities in Germany offer human medicine as a degree programme. At most of these universities, it is only possible to start studying in the winter semester. You must apply for a place at a state university via the central portal hochschulstart.de. If you do not get a place to study medicine this way, the Studying medicine abroad be a good alternative.

It is possible to study human medicine anywhere in Germany

Whether it's Berlin, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, in the far north in Schleswig Holstein or in the far south in Bavaria: the cities in which you can find Study medicine are spread all over Germany.

Unfortunately, however, you cannot always choose for yourself whether the study place allocated to you is actually at the university where you would like to study medicine. For example, you may actually want to study at the University of Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, but instead "only" be one of the applicants in Hesse or Mecklenburg-Vorpommern who are admitted to one of the places there.

The order in which you enter your preferred universities influences the university you are assigned to

In your application submitted via hochschulstart.de Application for medical studies you can enter up to 12 universities where you would particularly like to study. Your entry must always be the specific name of the university. If there are several universities in one location or in your desired area that are suitable for you, you must list each of them individually.

Example: If you would like to study in North Rhine-Westphalia, the state universities of Aachen, Bochum, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Duisburg-Essen, Cologne and Münster are all possible choices. You then list these 7 universities in your preferred order.

If you are lucky enough to be considered for several places, you will always receive a letter of admission for the university that is highest on your list of priorities. For this reason, it is important that you think carefully about your list beforehand. If you are not sure, do some research on the individual universities. In this way, you can form your own impression of the medical degree programme there.

One of the most important tips: Use all 12 places on the list

The number of applicants for medical studies significantly exceeds the number of available study places. It is therefore not only questionable whether you will get a place at the university in the city of your choice. Rather, it is considered great luck to be allowed to enrol on a medical degree programme at all.

For this reason, you should always make use of all 12 available places on the list and enter universities there as long as you can imagine studying human medicine there. Only if there are really clear criteria that speak against a university and you would not study there anyway without alternatives is this a reason not to list this university.

Study locations of the state universities in Germany

There are currently 36 state universities in Germany where you can study medicine. The following overview shows their locations in alphabetical order:

• Aachen
• Augsburg
• Berlin
• Bochum
• Bonn
• Dresden
• Düsseldorf
• Erlangen-Nuremberg
• Duisburg-Essen
• Frankfurt am Main
• Fribourg
• Pouring
• Goettingen
• Greifswald
• Halle-Wittenberg
• Hamburg
• Hanover
• Heidelberg
• Homburg
• Jena
• Keel
• Cologne
• Leipzig
• Lübeck
• Magdeburg
• Mannheim
• Mainz
• Marburg
• Munich
• Minster
• Oldenburg
• Regensburg
• Rostock
• Tuebingen
• Ulm
• Würzburg

Study human medicine at a private university

Applications for study places at the 4 private medical universities are not made via hochschulstart.de. Instead, these universities set their own criteria and procedures for the distribution of available places.

This can be a great advantage if, for example, you were not accepted at a state university due to the very high NC. At a private university, the A-level grade usually doesn't count as much. Instead, you write a letter of motivation in which you have to convince the admissions committee why you are ideally suited to the field of medicine and working with people.

Locations of private universities in Germany

In addition to the 36 state universities, there are 4 private universities in Germany where it is also possible to study medicine:

• Brandenburg Medical School
• Kassel School of Medicine
• Paracelsus University in Nuremberg
• Witten/Herdecke University

Tuition fees at a private university are higher

Although you also have to pay a semester fee at state universities, this is significantly higher at a private university. On average, you can expect the entire course to cost you over 100,000 euros.

If you decide in favour of a private university, it is therefore important to take a close look at the various funding options beforehand. Take a look at the latest status of available scholarships and consider whether it is worth applying for one of them.

If you do not receive a scholarship, a student loan may be an option. You usually only have to pay this back once you have completed your medical examination and can afford the repayment through your employment.

It is only possible to start the degree programme in the summer semester at a few medical universities

At the vast majority of universities, medical studies only start in the winter semester, when the new school leavers leave school. If you don't want to start in the winter, only the following universities offer courses in the summer semester:

• Humboldt University Berlin
• Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg
• Justus Liebig University Giessen
• Georg-August-University Göttingen
• University of Cologne
• Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
• Westphalian Wilhelms University of Münster
• Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
• Julios-Maximilians-University of Würzburg
• Witten/Herdecke University (private university)
• Brandenburg Medical School (private university)

Model degree programme? New paths during the degree programme can be advantageous

Some state universities as well as private universities offer so-called model study programmes. The aim of such a model degree programme is to bring the content of medical studies up to date with what is needed in our society. A model degree programme is often more practical and involves more patient contact.

The training of students on the model degree programme is scientifically monitored and evaluated in order to possibly improve the content of the regular degree programmes in the future.

Overall, a well-designed model degree programme offers you many advantages. These include, for example, more intensive supervision by the lecturers and more practical experience than in the regular medical degree programme, which is often criticised for being too "school-based".

However, if you are thinking of changing universities during your studies, it probably makes more sense to opt for a regular degree programme. Here, the content and timetables are structured similarly at all universities, ensuring that you won't miss anything even if you change universities.

There are many other universities abroad that allow you to study medicine

As we have shown, study places in Germany are highly competitive and many applicants are left empty-handed. Studying medicine abroad is therefore a good alternative for many prospective students.

The admission procedure is often a little different there. The A-level grade is not particularly important. Instead, a university entrance examination often decides which applicants are awarded places to study medicine.

At which universities abroad are the medical degree programmes suitable for German students?

Students from Germany can cope more easily with studying at a foreign university if they don't have to learn a foreign language in order to understand the lecture at all.

We will take care of your application to universities abroad where you can study in English or even German. This means you can get straight into the content of your degree programme and don't have to worry about the language. You can then practise this in your free time at the Contact us learning with your fellow students. We can also help you prepare for entrance examinations, find a WG and much more, we support you.

Have your degree from abroad recognised in Germany

If you have decided to turn your back on the battle for university places in Germany and study in another country instead, it is important that the education provided by the university there is recognised in Germany.

This is usually no problem at European universities. For example, you can return after your medical examination, look for a job at a German clinic and complete your specialist training in internal medicine or another subject here.

Is it easier to study abroad or at a private university than at a state university?

As medical studies at German universities are organised according to the medical licensing regulations, the examination at a private university is just as demanding as at a state university. However, students at certain universities may find it easier to learn. This is usually due to good concepts and small group sizes. 

Overall, however, it can be said that you need a lot of motivation and a willingness to study with discipline, no matter where you want to study medicine.

For degrees obtained abroad, you must also have the same level of knowledge as a doctor trained in Germany. It is therefore irrelevant for the result whether you studied in Rhineland-Palatinate, Hamburg or the Czech Republic. The many success stories of licenced doctors show that there are many ways to reach your goal.

Therefore, get an overview of the different study locations and your chances of getting that coveted university place there. Well informed, you can then decide which university is best suited to you.