Professor Paraskev Stoyanov
The surgeon the university is named after, regarded as a founding figure of modern Bulgarian surgery. The university took his name in 2002, forty-one years after it opened.
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A Black Sea medical university teaching since 1961, with its own university hospital of more than 1,000 beds and a six-year degree taught in English.





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Bulgaria
Country
Varna
City
SCImago #1
in Bulgaria for Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (2026)
English
Medium, with compulsory Bulgarian
For Indian Students
Short answer: Yes, Indian students can study medicine in Bulgaria. No, not as the rules stand: Bulgaria's internship, 310 to 336 days depending on the university, is shorter than the 12 months the NMC requires.
Seven Bulgarian faculties teach the six-year programme in English. Each runs its own entrance exam in English, Biology and Chemistry, and a qualified NEET UG result is mandatory before admission.
No, not as the rules stand. The NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 ask for a course of at least 54 months, teaching in English and a twelve-month internship in the same institution. The Bulgarian degree lasts six years and is taught in English, and the internship takes place in the university's own hospitals, but it runs 310 to 336 days depending on the university, rather than twelve months.
As the rules stand, the degree does not lead to an Indian licence through the FMGE (NExT deferred and not in force). Official NBEMS data records 21 passes from 73 Bulgaria-trained candidates across the 2025 sessions. If India is your long-term goal, plan this with our counsellors before you apply.
Introduction


Clinical skills room at the Medical University of Varna with examination couches and the university crest on the projection screen
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Recognition & Prestige
The Medical University of Varna does not appear in the QS or Times Higher Education tables. SCImago places it first in Bulgaria for Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics, Bulgaria's National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency (NEAA) rates its Medicine programme, its Faculty of Medicine is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS), and the Bulgarian medical degree is named in EU law.
#1
in Bulgaria for Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (SCImago, 2026)
9.00 / 10
NEAA programme rating for Medicine, 2026
Clinical training runs at University Hospital St. Marina, which belongs to the university and has more than 1,000 beds, together with MHAT St. Anna, the Prof. Dr. D. Stamatov Specialised Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and the Specialised Eye Hospital for Active Treatment in Varna. EU Directive 2005/36/EC lists the Bulgarian degree, Магистър-лекар, in Annex V, point 5.1.1. Because the Faculty of Medicine is listed in WDOMS, graduates can apply for ECFMG Certification and the USMLE. The GMC lists the Bulgarian Master physician diploma as a relevant European qualification, so UK registration is applied for directly, without PLAB. For India, the degree does not meet the NMC rules as they stand, because the 310-day internship inside the degree is shorter than the twelve months the NMC asks for in the same institution.

EU
Bulgaria is an EU member state, and its degree Магистър-лекар is listed in Annex V, point 5.1.1 of EU Directive 2005/36/EC

WDOMS
The Medical University of Varna Faculty of Medicine is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (FAIMER School ID F0000283)
Complete Information About the Medical University of Varna
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Academic Excellence
Varna offers its own large teaching hospital, an internship documented day by day, an EU degree and a Black Sea city with its own airport. As the NMC rules stand, the degree does not lead to an Indian licence, as the sections below explain.
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How to Apply
Admission to Medicine at the Medical University of Varna runs through the university's own online examination in Biology and Chemistry. NEET does not decide admission, but a qualified NEET-UG result is a separate Indian requirement a student must hold before going abroad. The sittings open to non-EU applicants come early in the year, so the calendar matters more than anything else.
Indian nationals must qualify NEET-UG before taking admission abroad; under NMC rules the NEET result serves as the eligibility certificate and is valid for three years. This is an Indian requirement, entirely separate from the university's own selection.
A NACID certificate recognising the secondary diploma is required for the final ranking list, and the whole document set must be legalised and translated into Bulgarian. NACID recognition takes about a month.
For the 2026 cycle the online tests on 4 April, 16 May and 13 June were open to all applicants, while the sittings on 16 July and 3 September were for EU applicants only. An Indian applicant's real deadline in 2026 was therefore 13 June.
The application fee is €340 (about ₹37,400), is not refunded and falls due one week before the chosen test date.
Biology and Chemistry, online, with questions in five formats: multiple choice, gap-fill, matching, true or false, and definitions and explanations. Final-year school students may sit before receiving their diploma and submit the full documents later.
Tuition can be paid in two semester instalments. Admitted students apply for a Bulgarian long-stay type D visa (€100 or €200, with a personal interview) and, after arrival, for a residence permit from the Migration Directorate, granted for up to a year and renewable. Classes begin in October.
The applicant needs completed secondary education with at least 65 per cent in the school language grade, a legalised diploma translated into Bulgarian, a NACID certificate recognising the diploma, and English at IELTS Academic 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 90. Under Indian NMC rules an Indian applicant additionally needs Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English at Class 12, with a minimum of 50% aggregate in Physics, Chemistry and Biology for the general category, 40% for SC, ST and OBC candidates and 45% for general-category candidates with benchmark disabilities, together with a qualifying NEET-UG score.
Subjects:
Under Indian NMC rules the candidate must be 17 years old by 31 December of the admission year, with no upper age limit. The university applies no separate age condition of its own.
Two things govern a Varna application, and the first is a calendar problem rather than an academic one.
The Non-EU Test Calendar
In the 2026 cycle only the April, May and June sittings were open to applicants from outside the EU. An Indian applicant working to a September deadline would have missed the year, so plan the application around the June sitting at the latest.
A High English Bar
Varna asks for IELTS Academic 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 90 and at least 65 per cent in the school language grade. Book the English test early, alongside NACID recognition and legalisation of the documents.
Admission rests on the university's own online examination rather than on category-wise minimum marks.
| Component | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Biology and Chemistry | An online examination with questions in five formats: multiple choice, gap-fill, matching, true or false, and definitions and explanations |
| 2026 test dates | 4 April, 16 May and 13 June open to all applicants; 16 July and 3 September for EU applicants only |
| English | IELTS Academic 6.5 or TOEFL iBT 90 |
| Fee | €340 (about ₹37,400), not refunded, payable one week before the chosen test date |
To apply, students need to submit essential academic and identification documents:
Admission Guidance & Document Checklist
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Programme Structure
Medicine at Varna is a six-year single-cycle Master's taught in English, with Bulgarian a compulsory subject under the university's own regulations. The degree ends in a pre-graduation internship of 310 calendar days and state examinations sat at the university. That internship is shorter than the NMC's twelve months, so, as the rules stand, the degree does not meet the NMC rules for Indian students.
Total Duration:
6 Years, ending in a 310-day pre-graduation internship
Degree:
Master's in Medicine, Магистър-лекар (Master-Physician), equivalent to MBBS
Years 1 to 2
Basic medical sciences taught in English, with the compulsory Bulgarian language course running alongside so that students can work with patients in the clinical years:
Year 3
Disease mechanisms taught together with the first systematic patient examination teaching, bridging laboratory science and bedside medicine:
Years 4 to 5
Systematic clinical teaching across the specialties at University Hospital St. Marina and the university's other clinical bases:
Year 6
A pre-graduation internship of 310 calendar days, itemised by rotation with the hospital named for each, followed by the state examinations sat at the university:
Clinical training runs at the university's own hospital and its other clinical bases in Varna:
| Clinical base | Role in training |
|---|---|
| University Hospital St. Marina | The university's own teaching hospital, with more than 1,000 beds, and the main site of clinical teaching and the internship |
| MHAT St. Anna, Varna | A multi-profile hospital for active treatment used as a clinical base |
| Prof. Dr. D. Stamatov Specialised Hospital of Obstetrics and Gynaecology | Obstetrics and gynaecology teaching, including the internship rotation |
| Specialised Eye Hospital for Active Treatment, Varna | Ophthalmology teaching |
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European Framework
What a Bulgarian medical degree is worth depends on the framework it sits inside. The table sets out where the Varna degree stands and how the university is organised.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| European Union | Bulgaria's degree, Магистър-лекар, is listed in Annex V, point 5.1.1 of EU Directive 2005/36/EC. Automatic recognition across the EU applies to EU citizens, so an Indian graduate moves to another EU country through that country's own procedures, or through EU long-term resident status |
| UK registration | The General Medical Council lists the Bulgarian Master in Medicine with the professional qualification Master physician, completed on or after 1 January 2007, as a relevant European qualification. A graduate applies for full registration directly, without PLAB, with evidence of English such as IELTS or OET. The route depends on where you qualified, not on nationality |
| United States | The Faculty of Medicine is listed in WDOMS, so graduates can apply for ECFMG Certification and sit the USMLE. ECFMG's accreditation policy is for information only and does not affect an individual graduate's eligibility |
| NEAA accreditation | Bulgaria's National Evaluation and Accreditation Agency rated the Medicine programme 9.00 out of 10 in 2026 |
| Faculties | Medicine, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy and Public Health, alongside a Medical College that grew from a nursing school founded in 1942 |
| Where Medicine is taught | Only in Varna. The affiliates in Sliven, Shumen and Veliko Tarnovo teach nursing and midwifery |
Understand the Recognition Framework
The table above sets out where a Bulgarian medical qualification is recognised and on what basis.
Legacy
The university has taught medicine in Varna since 1961 and carries the name of a surgeon regarded as a founding figure of modern Bulgarian surgery.
The surgeon the university is named after, regarded as a founding figure of modern Bulgarian surgery. The university took his name in 2002, forty-one years after it opened.
Rector of the Medical University of Varna, elected by the General Assembly on 7 March 2024. He succeeded Professor Dr. Svetoslav Georgiev, who held the post from March 2020.
The university comprises four faculties: Medicine, Dental Medicine, Pharmacy and Public Health. It also runs a Medical College that grew from a nursing school founded in 1942, and three regional affiliates in Sliven, Shumen and Veliko Tarnovo that teach nursing and midwifery. Medicine is taught only in Varna.
Teaching medicine in Varna since 1961, a university since 1995
Its own University Hospital St. Marina, with more than 1,000 beds
First in Bulgaria for Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics (SCImago, 2026)
NEAA programme rating of 9.00 for Medicine (2026)
Students from more than 70 countries, with India among the largest first-year cohorts
Compulsory Bulgarian alongside the English-taught programme
An optional nine-month English preparatory course for applicants who need it
Online entrance examination, so no travel is needed before admission
About University
Get all information about the Medical University of Varna in our free brochure
Read on to find out how you can fulfil your dream of studying medicine at the Medical University of Varna.
Role in medicine
Get all information about the Medical University of Varna in our free brochure
Read on to find out how you can fulfil your dream of studying medicine at the Medical University of Varna.
Cost of living
Varna is Bulgaria's Black Sea capital, a port city of 310,664 people. Rent is the largest variable, and sharing a flat brings it down substantially. The table converts at about ₹110 to the euro.
| Cost Component | Approximate Amount |
|---|---|
| Accommodation (shared flat to one-bedroom flat outside the centre) | ₹17,000 to ₹45,100 (€155 to €410) |
| Groceries/meals | ₹16,500 to ₹27,500 (€150 to €250) |
| Utilities/internet | ₹10,500 to ₹18,000 (€95 to €165) |
| Public transport | ₹1,400 to ₹2,800 (€13 to €25) |
| Miscellaneous (books, etc.) | ₹11,000 to ₹22,000 (€100 to €200) |
Average monthly living cost
₹56,400 to ₹1,15,400 (€510 to €1,050)
Housing
The university runs two hostel blocks, and private rents in Varna are moderate by European standards.
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Food & Dining
Varna is a coastal city with a resort economy, which gives it a wider restaurant scene than its size suggests, though its Indian food choice is limited.
Cooking is how most students bring the food budget down toward the lower end of the living cost table. Ask about the kitchen arrangements in each block before choosing.
Varna has a small Indian restaurant presence. Sofia is the Bulgarian city with an established Indian food scene and delivery options.
Varna has full European supermarket infrastructure, and EU-wide online grocery and spice suppliers deliver into Bulgaria without customs or payment friction, so cooking Indian food regularly is straightforward.
Varna's economy rests partly on Black Sea tourism, which supports a broad range of restaurants and a long summer season.
India is among the largest national groups in Varna's international intake, so a new Indian student arrives into an existing community. The international office is the first contact for meeting other Indian students.
Location
Medical University of Varna, 55 Marin Drinov Street, Varna, Bulgaria. Clinical teaching runs at University Hospital St. Marina and the university's other clinical bases across the city. Medicine is taught only in Varna.
Nearest Airport
Varna Airport (VAR), in the city. There is no direct flight from India, so the journey connects through a hub such as Istanbul or Sofia
Local Transport
Varna is a compact coastal city of 310,664 people, served by city buses, with the teaching sites within the city
Your Roadmap to Success
Graduates receive a Master's in Medicine with the professional qualification Магистър-лекар (Master-Physician), the Bulgarian primary medical qualification. It is the equivalent of an Indian MBBS, not an Indian postgraduate MD.
The Bulgarian degree is listed in Annex V of EU Directive 2005/36/EC. Automatic recognition under the directive applies to EU, EEA and Swiss citizens, so an Indian citizen moves to another EU country through that country's own procedures, or through EU long-term resident status.
The General Medical Council lists the Bulgarian Master in Medicine with the professional qualification Master physician, completed on or after 1 January 2007, as a relevant European qualification. A graduate applies to the GMC for full registration directly, without sitting PLAB, with evidence of English such as IELTS or OET. The route depends on where you qualified, not on your nationality.
The Medical University of Varna Faculty of Medicine is listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools (WDOMS), so its graduates can apply for ECFMG Certification and sit the USMLE, the US licensing exam. ECFMG's accreditation policy is for information only and does not affect an individual graduate's eligibility for ECFMG Certification.
For India, the degree does not meet the NMC rules as they stand. The NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 ask for a course of at least 54 months, teaching in English and a twelve-month internship in the same foreign institution. The Varna degree lasts six years and is taught in English, and the internship takes place in the university's own hospital, but it runs 310 calendar days, about ten months, not twelve. So it does not lead to an Indian licence through the FMGE (NExT deferred and not in force). Plan this with our counsellors before you apply.
After registration, graduates can pursue specialty training in Bulgaria, in another EU country through its own procedures, in the United Kingdom after full GMC registration, or in India after the FMGE and the Indian internship.
Understand the Medical Licensing Pathway
A clear overview of the exams and requirements after graduation.
Practising in India
To practise medicine in India after graduating abroad, an Indian student qualifies NEET-UG before admission, completes the course abroad, clears the NMC screening examination (the FMGE; NExT is deferred and not in force), completes an internship in India and registers with a State Medical Council. A Bulgarian degree does not meet the NMC rules as they stand, because the internship inside the degree is shorter than twelve months.
Step 1
The NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 ask for at least 54 months of study and a twelve-month internship in the same foreign institution. The six-year Varna programme clears the course length, and its pre-graduation internship runs in the university's own hospital, but it lasts 310 calendar days, about ten months. As the rules stand, the degree therefore does not meet the NMC rules.
Step 2
The regulations require the course to be taught in English. The Medicine programme runs in English for all six years, and the university's regulations make Bulgarian a compulsory subject for international students, because patients on the wards speak Bulgarian.
Step 3
The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences conducts the FMGE twice a year with a pass mark of 150 out of 300. Official NBEMS data for the two 2025 sessions records 21 passes from 73 Bulgaria-trained candidates (28.8%). Nationally, the December 2025 session passed 10,262 of 42,872 candidates (23.95%). The National Exit Test (NExT), intended to replace the FMGE, is deferred and not in force.
Step 4
Clearing the FMGE is followed by a twelve-month Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship in India, the same as an Indian MBBS graduate completes. It comes in addition to the Varna internship, not instead of it.
Step 5
Once the internship in India is complete, the graduate applies for registration with the relevant State Medical Council. Bulgaria and India are both parties to the Hague Apostille Convention, so the Bulgarian degree is legalised for use in India with an apostille.
Student Life Style
Varna is Bulgaria's Black Sea capital, a port and resort city with a mild coastal climate and its own airport.

Aerial view of the port and city of Varna on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast

Crocuses in bloom beside a mountain lake below snow-covered peaks in Bulgaria
Scholarship & Financial
No scholarship or fee waiver for international students is published at Varna, so a family should plan for the full fee. The fee does fall after the first year.
Not a scholarship, but the thing to plan around. The first year costs €10,000, the second and third €9,100 each, and the fourth to sixth €9,000 each, €55,200 in total. Tuition can be paid in two semester instalments.
No scholarship or fee waiver for international students could be found at Varna, and no Bulgarian government scholarship open to Indian nationals for a medical degree is published.
Once enrolled, a student can apply for Erasmus+ funding for an exchange period abroad, and eligibility turns on enrolment rather than nationality. It does not pay Bulgarian tuition.
Compare
Compare the Medical University of Varna with India's top-ranked government medical college.
Quick Comparison:
Medical University of Varna vs AIIMS New Delhi
| University | Medical University of VarnaVarna, Bulgaria | AIIMS New DelhiNew Delhi, India |
|---|---|---|
| University Type | Public | Institute of National Importance (government) |
| Medium | English, with compulsory Bulgarian | English |
| Course Duration | 6 years, ending in a 310-day internship (Магистър-лекар) | 5.5 years: 4.5 years of study plus a 12-month internship |
| Tuition (per year) | €10,000 in year one, about ₹11 lakh, then €9,100 and €9,000 | Nominal government fee |
| Admission | Online Biology and Chemistry exam, plus a qualified NEET result | NEET UG |
| Recognition | Listed in WDOMS; EU Annex V 5.1.1; does not meet the NMC rules (internship shorter than 12 months) | Listed in WDOMS |
| Global Ranking | No QS or Times Higher Education listing; SCImago #1 in Bulgaria for Pharmacology (2026) | NIRF Medical 1 (2025); QS Medicine =105 (2026) |
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FAQ
Short answers to the questions students and parents ask most often about studying medicine at the Medical University of Varna.