1. Does Rostock teach medicine in English?
+No. The programme runs in German and requires C1-level German at application.
The Medizinische Fakultät at the University of Rostock has been around since 1419, making it the oldest medical school in northern Europe and the Baltic area. Since the university began in the same year, medicine has been taught in Rostock for more than 600 years. The faculty is now part of Universitätsmedizin Rostock, which is an integrated structure that runs the faculty and the university hospital as a single unit. About 210,000 people live in the city, which is on the Warnow river and close to the Baltic Sea. It has some of the lowest living costs of any German university city.
The program is based on the Ărztliche Approbationsordnung and lasts for 12 quarters, which is three months. You go through four semesters of preliminary work, six semesters of clinical work, and the 48-week Praktisches Jahr. The whole class is taught in German. Rostock does not offer an English-medium medical degree, and the faculty makes that clear on its admissions pages. This means that language skills are more important than grades when deciding who can attend than grades themselves.
In Rostock, the primary years are built around anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry. The first year is centered around the dissection course. One of the oldest teaching collections in Germany is kept at the Institute of Anatomy. Students use this collection along with more modern imaging tools. Physiology and biochemistry practicals happen at the same time, and the teachers connect them to case studies so that you can understand why a mechanism is important in real life. After the fourth term, the Erste Ărztliche PrĂźfung ends this part.
Universitätsmedizin Rostock has about 1,000 beds spread out across its campuses and treats about 45,000 inpatients a year. This is where clinical training takes place. As the highest level of care provider in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, it takes on patients that other hospitals in the area can't handle. Heart medicine, oncology, neurology, transplant medicine, and neonatology are some of its strong areas. A lot of catheter interventions and heart surgery are done at the heart center every year, and the oncology center is certified by the German Cancer Society. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is a state with few people, so the hospital serves a big area. This means that students get to see a wide range of cases without having to compete with other teaching hospitals for the same patients.
Aging science, regenerative medicine, neurodegeneration, and medical technology are the main areas of research at Rostock. The school runs the Department of Life, Light, and Matter with the help of the natural sciences. It also works with the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases to study Parkinson's disease and dementia. It also has a Reference and Translation Center for Cardiac Stem Cell medicine, which makes it a leader in cell-based medicine. About a third of students finish a Dr. med. thesis, and the faculty offers an organized doctoral track for those who would rather do lab work than a clinical project. From the fifth term on, you can begin writing the thesis.
The number of students in a class help them learn. Rostock only takes in about 200 medical students during the winter semester, which is less than Munich, Berlin, or Cologne. Most bedside teaching groups have four to six students, so you check on patients yourself instead of watching others. In the skills lab, students learn how to do things like venipuncture, suturing, managing airways, ultrasound, and CPR. During the practical years, these skills are tested at set times during OSCEs. The faculty also has a program called "simulated patients," in which trained actors play common cases. This helps you get better at taking histories before you meet real patients.
Medicine for adults, surgery, kids, gynecology and obstetrics, neurology, psychiatry, dermatology, ophthalmology, ENT, anesthesiology, radiology, and general practice are all covered in the clinical part. General practice is very important in Rostock because there aren't enough family doctors in rural Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. Incentives, like scholarships during the course, are paid for by the state for students who promise to work in rural areas after they graduate. You have to apply for that separately, and the promise is legally binding.
Four months of Faculatur are played during the breaks between semesters during the clinical years. Part of it can be done abroad if the faculty agrees with the hospital. Through Erasmus, Rostock's Baltic links give students ways to get to Sweden, Denmark, Poland, and the Baltic states. The rest of the year is split into three 16-week blocks: internal medicine, surgery, and an option. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern gives you a PJ budget, and Universitätsmedizin Rostock adds to it, so you don't go without pay during your last year. After that come the Zweite und Dritte Ărztliche PrĂźfung. If you pass both, you get the Approval.
Costs are the most obvious benefit. At state universities in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, there are no tuition fees. This is true for both EU and non-EU students. A semester fee of about EUR 120 covers the student union, the Studentenwerk, and a ticket for regional transportation. The rent in Rostock is much lower than the average in Germany. A room at the Studentenwerk Rostock-Wismar costs between EUR 200 and EUR 290 a month, while a room in a shared private flat costs between EUR 280 and EUR 400 a month. It's cheaper to shop, get around, and have fun here than in the southern or western states. For the student visa, you still need to have a blocked account worth EUR 11,904 per year, which is usually more than what you spend in Rostock.
The national system is used for admission. High school graduates from Germany or the EU can apply through hochschulstart.de. Applicants with a non-EU qualification apply through uni-assist, and Rostock gives out a certain number of study spots for foreigners, usually 5% of the total number of applicants. School scores, the TMS aptitude test, and sometimes previous healthcare training are all taken into account in the hiring process. Most applicants from outside the EU must first finish a Studienkolleg year and pass the FeststellungsprĂźfung, unless they already have a qualification that is recognized as comparable.
The reading is the same for an Indian student as it is for any German public medical school. The National Medical Commission is happy with the approval in terms of length and internship, so the qualification can be used in India after FMGE or NExT. The language is what stops most candidates. You need to be able to speak German at a level of C1, pass the DSH or TestDaF, and then fight in a small foreign quota against people who have often already studied in Germany. Plan to study German for at least a year before you apply. Getting a German license is one of the cheapest and least crowded things you can do in a year if you are willing to spend that much time. If you want to be taught in English, you should look elsewhere because this school does not offer it.
