MEDICAL UNIVERSITY APPLICATION IN ROMANIA 2013/2014

Application, admission (pre-registration) and registration to medical university studies (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy etc) in English, French or Romanian in Romania can be done by self financing students or by student looking to get Romanian scholarship students ( available only to citizens of European Union - EU, European Economic Area - EEA and Federation of Switzerland - Ch). 

Self financing prospective student can apply as new undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate or transfer student. To get admission to Romanian medical university, student must respect all applications and admissions requirements and the application delaine. The medical university application requirements may slightly differ from different universities and some few universities may have particular requirements (ex. entrance exam!). 

Application procedure and requirements to Romanian university studies depend also on the origin of the applicant students (EU, EEA and Ch or not). Application file to medical university studies must be prepared carefully given that in general, the admission is based on application file selection (evaluation).

Who can apply to medical university in Romania?

Citizens of Romania or belonging to the European Union (EU), to the Economic European Area (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), to the Swiss Confederation (Ch) and other countries are eligible for application.

The minimum application requirement is a High School diploma from an accredited high school in the applicant’s country of origin. This high school diploma must give him access to university (higher education) studies in issuing country. This diploma has to be accepted by the Romanian Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sport , which on the basis of that diploma issue the acceptance letter (non EU/EEA Ch students) or certificate (EU/EEA Ch students) giving the access to university studies in Romania.

Medical prospective students must have a set of application documents required for admission to university of Medicine and Pharmacy in Romania. The requirement can slightly differ depending on particular criteria imposed by universities in their own methodology.

Application documents to medical university in Romania

List of general documents required by most of medical university in Romania:

• Certificate of high school studies (baccalaureate diploma or an equivalent diploma, 2 certified copies in the language of issuance + 2 certified translations, in English or in Romanian). The high school diploma (certificate) must allow the candidate access to higher education in the country of origin;
• Transcript of Records of high school studies  (2 certified copies  in the language of issuance +  2 certified  translations, in English, French or in Romanian), and  Syllabus  in case of applicants who request recognition for partial studies (transfer students) ;
• Certified copies of the Passport (pages 1,2,3,4 - 2 copies);
• Certified copies of birth Certificate (copy of original + certified  copy of translation, in English, French or Romanian);
• Medical Record - vaccines and a certificate from the general practitioner in the country of origin, attesting that they do not suffer from any chronic or neuropsychological illnesses, contagious diseases or other illnesses not compatible with the future profession;
• 6 Photographs (2 cm/3 cm);
• Copies of marriage certificate - 2 authenticated copies and 2 authenticated Romanian translations (only if the names have changed due to marriage);
• Curriculum Vitae (CV), with signature, mentioning contact details;
• Application form for the Issuance of the Letter of Acceptance  (non-EU,EEA, Ch students)/ Application form for Recognition of high school certificate (EU, EEA and Ch students);

If the origina documents are in english, french or Romanian, the traduction is not necessary and only authenticated copies of original documents.

Most of Universities require a simple copy of application file processing fee, which is non-refundable and vary from 100 to 250 Euro / application file, depending on university. If applicable, the amount has to be paid by bank transfer to university account.

The criteria the evaluation of the applicant students include high school diploma, academic records (general medium, marks in biology and chemistry) but also eventually post -high studies diploma, medical training and , extra curriculum activities etc. Those criteria vary within different universities.

Additional entry requirements (evaluation crieteria) for some medical universities in Romania:

•  Copy of document issued by an authorized body (the applicant’s high school) certifying the right (eligibility) of the applicant to continue his/her education in higher institutions and universities in the country in which he/she has acquired secondary education;
•  Diploma or certificate for 1st, 2nd, 3rd place/prize or a distinction at international school competition;
•  Diploma or certificate for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place in national school competitions;
•  Certificate or attestation of post-secondary medicine/health-related studies;
•  Certificate or attestation of undergraduate studies (bachelor degree) or post-secondary studies:
•  Letter of recommendation;
•  Internationally recognized English/ french certificate;
•  Evidence of extracurricular activities: voluntary activity (Red Cross, humanitarian, etc.); professional experience in fields related to medicine; other relevant achievements, etc.

Some universities may require also:

• Application form to the University of Medicine and Pharmacy for specific university;
• Official document to describe the education grading system in the country of the applicant;
• Application form including evaluation criteria;

OBS:

• Validation of Certificate or diploma by the Ministry of Education and issuance of certificate (EU/EEA and Ch students)or the issuance of letter of acceptance (for non EU/EEA and Ch students) giving access to university studies in Romania: officially, it takes minimum 30 days;
• Even if some students can get student visa within 10 days, this process of might take 30 days or more. Reason why it is recommended to apply for issuance of acceptance letter early and as soon as the letter is ready, to apply for student visa;
• Upon registration, all applicants must submit their study documents in original + authenticated copy + authenticated translation (where necessary);

Attention to students from:

• Sweden: Swedish citizens must provide a certificate from VHS (Verket for  Hogskoleservice - Swedish National Agency for Higher Education), stating that the applicant meets the general requirements to apply to Swedish  universities ( that his respective Slutbetyg grants access to higher education studies);           
• Spain: High-school diplomas obtained in Spain should be accompanied by a Certificate "Pruebas de Aptitud para el Acceso a la Universidad, calificación Apto" stating that the holder of the diploma has the right to pursue higher education studies.
• Portugal: High-school diplomas obtained in Portugal should be accompanied by a Certificate issued by Direçcao Geral de Ensino Superior stating that the holder of the diploma has the right to pursue higher education studies
• Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain: Applicants from those EU countries have to present  the high school  Certificate (baccalaureate diploma or an equivalent diploma) with the Apostille of Hague: Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Portugal and Spain;
• Other countries: Applicants from other countries of the European Union, except the ones mentioned above,  need to have an extra authentication from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and  from The Romanian Embassy/ Consulate in their country. Also some universities accept copy of documents certified by public notary or with the apostille of Hague;
• Romania: Romanian citizens are allowed to apply for the English program, under the same conditions provided by law for EU citizens, including tuition fees;

Authentication of copies: Hague Apostille / Romanian Diplomatic Mission

The apostille is a stamp or printed form consisting of 10 numbered standard fields which certifies the signature (and the capacity of who placed it) and correctness of the seal/stamp on the document which must be certified.

Apostilles are affixed by Competent Authorities designated by the government of a state which is party to the convention.

Documents issued by states that are not signatories of the Hague Apostille Convention must be certified twice: first by the ministry of foreign affairs of the issuing country and subsequently by the Romanian consulate/embassy in the respective country. 

Student from the following countries are advised to get the Hague Apostille on their copies of their study documents:

Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Azerbaidjan, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia-Hertzegovina, Botswana, Brunei, Bulgaria, Cape Verde, the Czech Republic, Cyprus, People’s Republic of China, Colombia, Cook Islands, the Republic of Korea, Croatia, Denmark, the Dominica Community, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Switzerland, El Salvador, Fiji, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Grenada, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Latvia, Lesotho, Liberia, Lichtenstein, Luxemburg, F.Y.R. Macedonia, Malawi, Malta, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Marshal Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Norway, Niue, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, The Russian Federation, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & Grenadine, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome & Principe, Seychelles, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Surinam, Swaziland, Sweden, Tonga, Trinidad Tobago, Turkey, the U. S. A., the Ukraine,  Vanuatu, Venezuela.

Language requirement (medium of study)

Medical prospective students must be proficient in the language of study (English, French or Romanian).
The proficiency of medium of study can be proven in different ways:

• By presenting an international recognised language certificate of English (Cambridge, TOEFL, IELTS) or French (level B2 at least!);
• By graduating from a high school where English was the language of teaching;
• By having the language of instruction as official language in original country;
• By taking an English/ French proficiency test, after the period of registration has ended, on the premises of the university.  If they don’t pass the language test, they will have to follow a preparatory year, during which they learn Romanian;

Transfer medical students in Romania

Can transfer to medical universities in Romania:

• Medical students who have started medical university in another country and want to continue his studies in Romanian medical university, without losing his ECTS credits;
• Student who has started university studies related to medical university studies (Biology, chemistry, biophysics, etc ) or has finished such studies and he want to start medical university studies in Romania: those ECTS credits  that he has gained in his previous studies and which are common to medical studies can be evaluated;
• Medical student in Romania transferring from one university to other (deadline of application is different and depend on University: Jun to beginning of October!);

To pass from one year to the next, the student must have at least 45 out of 60 credits (total credits for one academic year) and the missing credits must be taken by the end of the New Year.
Transfers from one university to another are possible only on the basis of ECTS credits, which is the European Credit Transfer System. Medical university transfer in Romania is only possible at the beginning of academic year.

For most of Medical Universities, the transfer students must apply to the first year like all other students, however after acceptance candidates will have their transcripts assessed by a committee made up of university officials. The committee will then decide which year the candidate will be allowed to enter. As course structure varies from university to university, the candidate may have to take some subjects from earlier years concurrently with their present year to be up to date with all parts of the curriculum. The student must pay to seat for each exam from previous year (320 to 500 Euro/exam).

It must be noted that the committee to decide which year the candidate qualifies for meets only in October after the presentation of original documents or earlier even before September, depending on University regulations.

Special required documents from transfer students:

• Complete transcripts of records with the original stamp and signature of the issuing university;
• The curriculum of the faculty with the original stamp and signature of the issuing university;
• The syllabus of all the subjects taken with the original stamp and signature of the issuing university;
• The grading system of the university and its equivalent in the Romanian education system;
• Application evaluation fee (non refundable if applicable: for some universities) to be  paid into  university bank account by bank transfer;
• Formal request of transfer (if applicable: for some medical universities!);

Documents issued in languages other than English or French have to be translated into English/French/Romanian (certified translation) and have to be endorsed by the university issuing them.

Medical Post-university specialisation  

Medical Post-university specialisation or Residency in Romania:

• Knowledge of the Romanian language (level B2) is mandatory as specialisation (post-graduate medical studies) is conducted only in Romanian.
• Citizens belonging to the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation have to comply with the same legal requirements as Romanian citizens (Law 316/2006), and have to take the residency exam in Romanian language.
• Citizens who do not belong to the European Union, the European Economic Area and the Swiss Confederation may enroll in the self-supported fee-based form of spcialisation. They must pay annually tuition fees.

The admission postgraduate medical study (specialisation) in Romania for international students from out of EU, EEA and Suisse Confederation is conditional: student is accepted to do the specialisation on condition he first undergo one year preparatory course of Romanian and get Romanian language certificate.

List of documents required to apply for postgradate medical study

• Copy of high school diploma or equivalent (leaving diploma, Baccalaureate, Abitur etc.), and bachelor degree (at least 6 years of university studies);   
• Copy of transcript of records for previously completed studies (high school and university studies);
• Copy of birth certificate;
• Copy of passport (page 1, 2, 3, and 4);
• Copy of medical certificate specifying that the candidate does not have any contagious diseases or any other diseases incompatible with the medical study and profession, and so prove the applicant's state health;
• Six recent photos;
• Copy of detailed CV;

The application file has to include the original notified (authenticated) copies of diplomas, academic records, birth certificate and passport. The notification of the copies must be done first by the Ministry of external affairs of the applicant country (issuing country) and then by the Romanian embassy in the respective country or bear the Apostille of Hague for those countries which have signed the Hague Convection or by public notary.  Some universities accept simple copies without authentication!
All mentioned above documents must be in English, French or Romanian. Otherwise, they must be translated into one of those languages. In that case, each authenticated translated copy must be sent along with its simple copy of original document.

To those who would like to take advantage of our services:

To apply to medical university in Romania, we advise those who would like to take advantage of our services, first to sent to us , by email, the list of the documents they have. If approved, we will ask you to immediately courier your documents by post, DHL or other appropriate mean. Once we receive the hard copy of your Medical university application file, we will verify it once again. If applicable, the acceptable applicants will be required to pay a non refundable application processing fee to account of chosen university (varies from 0 to 250 Euros from and depends on universities.

As soon as you have paid the file processing fee, you will send to us the scanned copy by email and we will do the rest.
After we receive your Medical university application file, to get your acceptance letter from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport can take between 1 to 3 months en if  it is possible some time to get it within weeks;

As soon as you get your letter of acceptance to medical study in Romania, please apply as soon as possible and if you need assistance with visa application, travel, on your arrival in Romania, accommodation and orientation to university and in the society, we can guide. Just let us know at least one week in advance.
 
Would you like to maximize your chance of getting into medical university in Romania in 2013/2014 academic year? Then let us help you to prepare you application file, to review it 2 times before submitting it and if any information or document is missing, we will let you know.  Remember: non entrance exam, you are admitted based on your application file and the competition is becoming more and higher every passing year.