Skip to content

How to Study Medicine, Work, and Live Abroad in Munich

If you're a Non-EU student aiming to study medicine in Germany, you're not alone. The pressure is real — fierce global competition and very limited spots for international students make the journey both challenging and intense.

Cindy Yoseffa
Cindy Yoseffa
3 min read
How to Study Medicine, Work, and Live Abroad in Munich
© 2018 Cindy Yoseffa – Enjoying Calm Summer before swimming in Karpathos, Greece

Table of Contents


Dream big!

Anxiety-Inducing, Yet Incredibly Exciting

It’s completely normal to feel anxious and full of self-doubt. After all, you're far from home, navigating a new culture, and trying to get into a competitive medical program — all on your own. That alone is overwhelming.
But at the same time, you're in Europe — surrounded by new experiences, opportunities to grow, and the freedom to study, work, and explore beautiful countries. It’s a mix of stress and adventure, pressure and possibility — and you're right in the middle of it.


upload in progress, 0
© 2017 Cindy Yoseffa, medical students and anatomy professors. Anatomy Institution, Medical Faculty LMU Munich.

How to become the medical student of your dream

Step 1 : Becoming an International Student

Apply for Studentenvisum or Sprachkurs-Visum – if you want to learn German in Germany – and you need to extend it too with enough financial proofs or guarantor: family member or acquaintances. Where to find a city and an apartment to study, specially if you want to study in bigger cities like Munich, Hamburg, and Berlin – where it's famous, that finding a student apartment is a jungle of itself.

Step 2 : Having Similar German Student's Last Education – Das Abitur

Learn at least C1-German as fast as possible. You need to go to Studienkolleg for a year and get enough grade on your FSP – Die Feststellungsprüfung – to be accepted into medical school. Like any other German citizen.

Step 3 : Surviving The Preclinic (Vorklinik)

Let's say, you get into medical school in one of the German universities: Now you have to think about studying and passing the exams together with other native German students to be in the clinic.Find your social bubble and keep yourself physically and mentally healthy: The culture shock can hinder your individual growth, if you don't already know how the university's and overall social's culture in Germany look like.

Step 4 : Enjoying The Medical School

If you suddenly realized living in the middle of the cities is very expensive. You are also ready to find some real work experience to prove yourself, that you are an adult, who can take care of yourself partly or fully financially: You need to find a good student's job or one day scholarship, that fits your needs.If you have the budget and the nerve, you can do solo traveling, travel with friends and a bunch of medical school related events in other countries.


Don't give up! You can do it!

MedSchool MunichWorking in MedSchoolLiving in Munich

Cindy Yoseffa

Cindy is an international medical student from Indonesia, based in Munich, Germany, active in OneAIM at LMU and on social media, balancing studies with part-time jobs.

Comments


Related Posts

Working as Non-EU Medical Student in Munich, Germany

Overcome your insecurities about working while studying medicine abroad. Learn how to find the right student job in Germany, what salaries in Munich look like, and how to improve your CV — plus, get real PDF examples from my own job applications!

Working as Non-EU Medical Student in Munich, Germany