The University of Nicosia Medical School, the largest in Cyprus, offers a 6-Year MD degree programme designed for high school leavers.
EU accredited medical degree allowing medical practice pathways worldwide
Listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools
Diverse student body from over 60 countries
Programme fully taught in English
Career Prospects
With our devoted Student Success Team, students are matched with a personal tutor, and students meet one-on-one with Career Advisers to track their studies and steps, for practice after graduation. As an EU accredited medical degree, graduates who are from one of the countries that constitute the European Economic Area (EEA) or Switzerland will be eligible to apply to practise medicine. Each member state has its own regulations as to which stage of its training programme you will enter, and any additional requirements that you will need to demonstrate (such as language proficiency). While the MD degree is recognised by many different countries internationally, applicants are advised to check with their own individual national authorities, if they wish to practise in their own country. Throughout the journey, students will find support and guidance in aligning with national licensure exams, such as USMLE based on their preferred postgraduate pathway. Our Student Success Team hosts alumni and career experts to advise in best practices for working in different regions of the world to support student goals.
With more than 60 nationalities of students, you will study and practise with colleagues and faculty that provide a competitive advantage in the global healthcare market. This EU accredited medical degree allows medical practice pathways with support and preparation for postgraduate placement. Our graduates have been offered positions at over 200 medical centres around the world for residency training, fellowships, internships, and research.
Our Admissions Advisors can provide further information on your career options with this MD degree and licensure requirements.
General Objectives
This programme of study provides students with the opportunity to receive a high-quality education in Medicine. The general programme objectives are to:
Train students to become highly competent physicians and equip them with the knowledge, skills and attitudes that will enable them to respond to the challenges of modern medicine.
Produce competent and caring graduates, safe to practise initially as junior doctors, and with the potential to develop fully their careers in their chosen branch of medicine.
Provide each student with the evidence-based knowledge and experience necessary to advance both scientifically and humanistically in the care and treatment of those who are ill including immediate care of medical emergencies.
Foster the development of lifelong commitments to scholarship and service toward individual patients and the community.
Encourage students to practise medicine holistically including ethical, legal, psychological and social considerations.
Promote health and wellness through disease prevention and research.
Contribute toward the establishment of Cyprus as a regional centre of excellence in medical education.
Innovative and Modern Curriculum
The curriculum of the MD Programme is innovative and is based on the most recent research in the field of medical education.
Students learn through case studies and have small group tutorials for most of their courses. In addition, there is a strong emphasis on the social sciences including medical ethics and sociology.
This curriculum has focused on the guidelines of professional bodies, such as the General Medical Council of the UK (GMC), which places particular emphasis on social sciences because patients are social beings and clinicians benefit substantially from learning about the social aspects of health and illness and social health behaviour.
Furthermore, there is currently a discussion about training both medical students and clinicians to be culturally competent in order to improve their interaction with patients. Medical Sociology has a crucial role to play in this training because it covers issues that relate to patients’ health beliefs, the experience of chronic illness, migration and health, cultural values and health behaviour, socio-cultural environment and mental illness, and socioeconomic background and health.
Today medical schools can no longer afford to negate the importance of medical ethics in the undergraduate curriculum if they are to adhere to the prerequisites of professional bodies such as the General Medical Council, the World Medical Association and the World Federation for Medical Education which, among other professional bodies throughout the world, deem medical ethics as a core part of the medical curriculum. Ethics is a philosophical discipline and medical students, who may be more adept in the sciences, need an appropriate amount of time dedicated to this subject. Therefore, we strongly feel that one full course, in addition to integrated lectures in medical ethics throughout the curriculum in a six-year medical programme, is necessary to form doctors who are aware that ethics is crucial to good medical practice and will have the clinical ethical competence skills required by these professional bodies. The attainment of scientific knowledge is not sufficient to become a good doctor. Students need to know how to use, and not misuse, such knowledge.
In addition, the curriculum has been designed to encourage spiral learning. Therefore topics visited in the first years are revisited in subsequent years to build on further experiences.
Structure
Years 1-3 (Basic Medical Sciences)
During Years 1-3 students gain knowledge in the basic medical sciences: general chemistry, organic chemistry, physics, biology, anatomy, histology, biochemistry, physiology, genetics, microbiology and virology, immunology, pharmacology, medical genetics, general pathology, medical sociology, medical psychology, medical ethics, research methods in medicine and essential medical statistics.
Students also take courses in integrated clinical practice where they develop the important clinical and communications skills required for medicine. Under supervision, students will have the opportunity to meet selected patients in local hospitals and clinics to practise these basic skills.
Year 4 (Integrated Studies – Basic and Clinical Sciences)
Year 4 represents a transition year from preclinical studies to clinical studies.
During Year 4 students take courses in haematology, systematic pharmacology, epidemiology and public health, and clinical pathophysiology. They also carry out research projects.
In the second semester, the students take a course in integrated clinical practice in which they build on the clinical and communication skills they developed during the previous years. The students will visit local hospitals, clinics and the community to further practise the skills they have learnt and gain first-hand experience of how medicine is practised in these settings. Students take part in clinical attachments in medicine, surgery and primary care.
Years 5-6 (Clinical Studies)
The objectives of Years 5 and 6 are to provide students with extensive experience in the clinical environment, mainly in hospitals but also in the community, so that they can utilise their learning over the previous 4 years to practise their clinical, communication, diagnostic and reasoning skills on real patients, and to learn about the management of patients, from a medical, therapeutic, surgical, psychosocial and caring perspective.
Students take part in clinical attachments in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Respiratory Medicine, Thoracic Surgery and Breast Surgery, Gastroenterology and GI Surgery, Nephrology, Urology and Transplant Surgery, Rheumatology and Dermatology/Plastic Surgery, Neurology, Neurosurgery and Palliative Care, Psychiatry, Paediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Internal Medicine, General Surgery, Emergency Medicine and Intensive Care, Orthopaedics, Otorhinolaryngology & Ophthalmology, Therapeutics and Prescribing, General Practice and Geriatric Medicine.
Students also do a Clinical Attachment Elective, spending six weeks on a chosen activity or medical speciality of their choice. Students are encouraged to broaden their experiences by undertaking their electives in a different environment. This includes the option of going abroad for their elective.
Students remaining in Cyprus for clinical training will need appropriate knowledge of Greek so that they can better communicate with patients. The Medical School provides free Greek-language lessons during the first 4 years of the course to prepare students for this requirement.
Admission Requirements
1. High School Leaving Certificate
High School Leaving Certificate with 90% overall score (Ί8/20 overall in the Greek/Cypriot High School Leaving Certificate), to include similar grades in Biology and one of either Chemistry, Physics or Maths.
Or: GCE A’ Levels with grades ABB, to include Biology and one of either Chemistry, Physics or Maths, and one more subject.
Or: International Baccalaureate with 32 overall and a combined score of 16 at Higher Level, to include Biology and at least one of either Chemistry, Physics or Maths.
Candidates are reviewed holistically, so all grades will be reviewed including in Chemistry, Physics and Maths to ensure your knowledge and achievement in these areas meets the demands of our curriculum.
The Medical School may also consider applicants from other education systems. For any other qualifications please contact us so we can assess your eligibility.
Candidates who hold a Bachelor’s Degree in a field relevant to Medicine can be considered for admission to the first year of the course. Such candidates from English – language universities would be exempt from the English-language requirements.
2. English Language Requirements
6.5 overall in the IELTS (with 6.5 in writing and a minimum of 6.0 in all other elements),
Or: 213 overall in the computer-based TOEFL (550 paper-based, 79 internet-based),
Or: grade 5 in the GCSE (or B with the old grading system),
Or: a score of 5 in English in the International Baccalaureate Standard Level (SL),
Or: a score of 70% in English in the European Baccalaureate.
Students from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand are exempt from this requirement as long as they have graduated from an English speaking high school.
3. An Interview – either in person or online
The objective of the interview is to establish whether you have the appropriate skills and attributes to complete the course successfully and to practise medicine professionally.
Applicants need to demonstrate through volunteer experience that they have an understanding of the biological, psychological and social dimensions of medicine to support their application displaying suitability for a career in medicine.
You will need to meet academic and non-academic conditions or requirements before enrolment, and a conditional offer may not be converted to an unconditional offer solely based on meeting minimum grade requirements. The Admissions Committee reviews applicants holistically throughout the Admissions process.
*Applicants from accredited Medical Schools, in good academic standing, can be considered for transfer into the second or third year of the UNIC Doctor of Medicine programme. This opportunity will be based on a thorough review of the completed courses by an Academic Panel.
Tuition and Living Costs
Annual tuition is €18,000 for the first 3 years and €22,000 for the final 3 years. Living costs depend on your lifestyle. Students doing their clinical training in the UK pay a supplement of €6,000 per year for the last 2 years.
On average, staying in Nicosia for the whole year will cost a minimum of €10,000.
