According to CHE Centrum für Hochschulentwicklung, those studying overseas are evenly split between enrolment on regular courses registered in the host country and special medical courses for international students.

The latter programs are usually in Eastern and Southeastern Europe and in some cases are specifically tailored to German students.

Hungary’s University of Pécs and Semmelweis University, Croatia’s University of Osijek and Pomeranian Medical University in Poland all have some sort of German-language offering.

Many courses in Southeastern Europe are offered in English, the research added.

Austria and Hungary hosted the most German medical students in 2021, enrolling 2,585 and 2,051, respectively.

The report noted that Poland (859 German medical students), Czech Republic (422), the UK (421) and Lithuania (413) are also popular destinations.

CHE acknowledged that, with 91,696 medical students enrolled in Germany in 2021, it could only confirm that “at least” 8% of German medical students, or 7,500 students, were studying overseas as some data is missing.

Figures for German medical students enrolled in courses in countries such as Italy and Bulgaria are not publicly available, it said.

It is also not clear what the students do after their studies, CHE’s head of International Projects, Gero Federkeil, explained.

“Although some universities stated the majority of their German graduates returned to Germany, this information cannot be generalised”

“Although some international universities stated in our survey that the majority of their German graduates returned to Germany, this information cannot be generalised,” he noted.

“Even the state authorities in Germany responsible for recognition and approval have almost no information or data on the recognition of Germans studying abroad.”

In CHECK “Studying Medicine in Europe”, CHE analysed admission requirements and study costs for 86 international medical courses at 84 European universities.

Researchers found that tuition fees for special programs for international students can stretch from €3,000 up to €29,800 per academic year.

With an average study period of six years, the English-taught program at George Emil Palade University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology in Romania would cost close to €180,000 in tuition fees alone, the research found.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, tuition fees for special English-medium programs can start at €3,068 per year. Regular national medical courses in the Netherlands are around €2,530 per year.

CHE noted that the same regulations and tuition fees apply to German students as to local students in EU countries.

However, researchers added that prospective students should compare all the different country-specific costs of living. They also highlighted that knowledge of the respective national language is usually required for clinical training later in courses.