Medical & Dental Residencies

All our Partner Medical Universities offer postgraduate medical study programs (specialization training or residency specialization) which cover theoretical and practical training for graduates who have completed their 6-year undergraduate medical studies and have obtained a Master’s Degree. Subsequently, after graduation, students must specialize in a medical field which typically lasts 4-6 years depending on the program they have graduated from. Postgraduate medical study focuses on gaining a medical specialty according to the approved EU training medical programs, and is complete once students have finished licensure examinations offered by the State Examination Commission if specialization takes place in Bulgaria or the Ministry of Health in Romania. Study Medicine Europe helps secure your entry in the specialization program of your choice.  Most medical graduates, whether Bulgarian, Romanian, EU citizens or non-EU citizens, prefer to continue with their specialization in the country and University that they graduated from.  The main reasons for this is because they have access to better funding, a lower cost of living and, after 6 years, they have created a home away from home. Note that it is imperative for all foreign students (EU and non EU candidates) to have an understanding in the local language of their post-graduate studies or take a 9-month preparatory course culminating with a language exam (B2 level in the EU framework) usually at the University from where they graduated, so as to be able to communicate with patients they treat in hospitals, as is the case in any country that a medical professional seeks specialization.  Part of Study Medicine Europe’s service is to provide our students with the materials that they need to prepare for this exam. Medical specialization training takes place at the Medical University Hospitals or affiliated clinics and it includes full-time practical training in a position indicative of the chosen specialty. Only the candidates who have completed the respective specialization curricula successfully are allowed to sit for a final exam. In turn, medical specialists who have successfully passed the Specialty State Examination receive a certificate of a recognized specialty by the Medical University in Bulgaria or the Ministry of Health in Romania. Every year, the Ministries of Health in each of the two countries issue a set amount of residency positions for all candidates, which are allocated after students pass their mandatory residency examinations and have submitted their applications. In Bulgaria, positions are announced by January and students have one month to apply. Medical residency specialization positions are announced on the website of the Ministry of Healthcare by the end of October.  In turn, EU and Bulgarian candidates are admitted to specialization positions through a mandatory residency examination process and subsequently must secure funding.  Non-EU candidates are self-funded. In Romania, the Ministry of Health allocates a certain number of positions for EU candidates (including Romanians) and Non-EU candidates. It publishes all the available specialty vacancies in Medical University affiliated Hospitals and clinics as early as late August-Early September, and candidates can apply by early November. EU candidates, including Romanians, are admitted to specialization positions through a mandatory residency examination process and subsequently must secure funding, but non-EU candidates are self-funded. In the occasion there are vacant positions left, the universities announce the openings and organize a second set of examinations to fill them. In Bulgaria the announcement is usually around July – August, while in Romania its set in March of each year. Again, Study Medicine Europe is there to help our graduates with their residency exams by providing extra materials with University notes, or books, solutions, previous research examples, sample tests and past papers, among other things. Depending on the chosen specialty, country and whether it’s in Medicine or Dentistry, specialization fees can range between £2,409 – £5,621 annually and can be covered by state funding, sponsorship, or self-funding.  Self-funding is mandatory for non-EU graduates. As part of our services, Study Medicine Europe will help you throughout your application process with necessary documentation, translations and legalization of your application documents. To find out more about Specializations, click here (Bulgaria or Romania).