1. Is the medical degree taught in English?
+No. The whole programme runs in German, and you need C1-level German before you apply.
The Fakultät fßr Medizin at the University of Regensburg teaches medicine to people. It is located on the same campus in eastern Bavaria as the University Hospital Regensburg. When the university opened in 1967, the first medical students came in. That means that the school has been teaching doctors for more than fifty years. Regensburg is a UNESCO World Heritage city on the Danube with about 160,000 people. Students say it is one of the safest and easiest university towns in Germany to get around on foot. The medical school makes sure that the college, lecture halls, anatomy dissection rooms, and university hospital are all close enough to walk between. This way, you can go from theory to the ward without having to cross the city.
The program is based on the German Ărztliche Approbationsordnung of 2002 and is set up like a Regelstudiengang, which means it is not a model course. It takes thirteen classes, or six years and three months, to finish. The basic part lasts for four semesters, the clinical part for six semesters, and the 48-week Praktisches Jahr at the end is spent in a hospital. German is used for teaching. The school does not offer or plan to offer an English-medium medical degree. If you want to apply, you must be able to speak and understand German at the DSH-2 or TestDaF 4x4 level.
Regensburg added something important for people who are interested in medicine in rural and regional areas. Medicine Niederbayern, or MCN, is a program that the faculty has run with hospitals in Lower Bavaria since the winter semester of 2023â2044. In that track, students spend their first few years of training in Regensburg. After that, they go to teaching hospitals in Deggendorf, Passau, Landshut, and Straubing to do their practical training. The state of Bavaria pays for the track so that doctors can stay in smaller towns, and it also has its own set of study spots. You have to apply for it separately, and in exchange, you agree to follow regional practice.
Clinical training is based at the University Hospital Regensburg. It takes care of about 35,000 inpatients a year and has 840 beds, making it the largest hospital in eastern Bavaria. It has donation programs for the liver, kidneys, heart, and lungs, and it runs one of Germany's largest extracorporeal support services. The Comprehensive Cancer Center Ostbayern is in charge of cancer care in the whole area. When you are a student, that size means you see rare cases that smaller teaching hospitals would never see, and you see them as part of your regular rotations instead of as special placements.
Immunology, oncology, regenerative medicine, and neurosciences are the main areas of research at Regensburg. The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft pays for the faculty to run collaborative research centers. The faculty also works closely with the Fraunhofer Institute for Toxicology and Experimental Medicine, which is located on the same campus. About one-third of Regensburg medical graduates also do a Dr. med. thesis at the same time or soon after getting their degree. The school helps these students by setting up structured doctoral programs. You can start working on your thesis during the clinical semesters and beyond. Your supervisors will expect you to have a clear project in mind instead of an unplanned attachment.
During the preclinical years, anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry are taught the most. The first two semesters are spent on a full-body dissection course. Regensburg limits the number of students in each dissection group to six. This way, you can handle tissue yourself instead of just watching. Physiology and biochemistry practicals happen at the same time, and the teachers plan them so that the systems you dissect are the same ones you learn. After semester four, the Erste Ărztliche PrĂźfung, or first state test, ends this part. It includes both a written multiple-choice test and an oral practical test. Regensburg's pass rate has always been higher than the national average.
From semester five on, the clinical part moves you into small-group teaching at the bedside. As part of your rotation, you will work in general practice, neurology, psychiatry, dermatology, ophthalmology, ENT, pediatrics, gynecology, neurology, and surgery. You can practice venipuncture, catheterization, suturing, ultrasound, and resuscitation on simulators before you meet a real patient in the skills lab run by the faculty. These skills are checked at set times by objective structured clinical exams, or OSCEs. You can't move on until you pass them. Regensburg also needs the standard Famulatur, which is four months of clinical clerkship spread out over the semester breaks. If the hospital is approved by the faculty, you may do some of it abroad.
The last year is filled with the Praktisches Jahr. You work 16-week blocks in internal medicine, surgery, and an elective field. You work as part of the ward team and are supervised. Bavaria gives PJ students a monthly stipend, and University Hospital Regensburg adds to it, so the last year is not left with no money. After PJ, you take the written Zweite Ărztliche PrĂźfung and then the oral and practical Dritte Ărztliche PrĂźfung. If you pass both, you'll get the Approbation, which is the German license to practice that is recognized all over the EU.
By world standards, prices stay low. In 2013, Bavaria got rid of tuition fees at state universities and hasn't put them back in place yet, not even for students from outside the EU. This means that there are no tuition fees at Regensburg. You do have to pay a semester fee, which pays for services for students and a semester bus pass that works all over Bavaria. That amount is close to 150 EUR per term. It costs less to live in Regensburg than in Munich or Frankfurt. A student apartment through Studentenwerk Niederbayern/Oberpfalz costs between EUR 250 and EUR 330 per month, and a private shared apartment costs between EUR 350 and EUR 480. For your student visa, German law says you have to show that you have a blocked account worth EUR 11,904 per year. This amount, not the fees, is what really makes it hard to pay.
Hochschulstart.de is the national clearinghouse for people with a German or EU secondary education who want to get in. If you are not from the EU and do not have a German Abitur, you can apply through uni-assist. Regensburg gives a small number of study spots to people from outside the EU, usually about 5% of the total number of students. There is tough competition. Human medicine is the most competitive subject in Germany. Grades in school, the TMS ability test, and, in some places, work experience are used to choose students. Before they can join the pool, most international applicants must first finish a Studienkolleg year or show that they have a qualification that is equivalent.
For Indian students, the practical reading is straight to the point. You need to be able to speak and understand German at a C1 level before you can even apply, which usually takes a year of study. The National Medical Commission gives the Approval high marks because the course lasts longer than 54 months and includes the internship year. However, you still have to get past the language barrier, the requirement for visa funding, and the foreign limit. Most students who finish this route have already lived in Germany for a while. It's not possible to take a simple English-medium route at Regensburg. This is what should make you choose the school over the fees.
