Romania MBBS Disadvantages: 7 Things to Check in 2026

The main Romania MBBS disadvantages are a missing internship year that India's rules ask for, three years of compulsory Romanian, tuition that has risen for every new intake, expensive resits and a very small Indian community. Romania is still a serious option. But you should know these seven Romania MBBS disadvantages before you send a single document, because most of them can't be fixed after you arrive.

This guide is about UMF Cluj-Napoca (Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy), our Romanian partner university, so every fact comes from its own fee table, curriculum and admission rules, plus India's National Medical Commission (NMC) and the exam body NBEMS.

Key Takeaways

• The NMC internship rule is the big one. India asks for a 12 month internship in the same foreign university, in addition to the course. The Cluj curriculum we read shows six years of teaching and no separate internship year.
• Romanian is compulsory for three years. International students take 84 hours of Romanian a year and sit an eliminatory Romanian test at the end of year 3.
• Fees went up for newer intakes. Students who started before 2023-24 still pay 7,500 euros a year; anyone starting from 2025-26 pays 10,000 euros.
• Failing costs real money. A third exam attempt costs non-EU students 150 euros per exam, and a repeat year adds 10% of the annual fee plus 125 to 170 euros per failed credit.
• Few Indians graduate from Romania. Only 7 Romania graduates sat the FMGE in December 2025 and 9 in June 2025, and none of them was listed from Cluj.

What are the Romania MBBS disadvantages, in one table?

The Romania MBBS disadvantages fall into seven groups: the NMC fit, language, fees, the price of failing, payment rules, admission risk and community size. Each one is written down by the university or an Indian authority, and the table shows where.

If you want the positives first, our guide to MBBS in Romania for Indian students covers fees, admission windows and the case for Cluj. This page stays with the Romania MBBS disadvantages only.

Does a Romanian degree meet the NMC internship rule?

This is the most serious of the Romania MBBS disadvantages, and the one families almost never ask about. India's Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 (FMGL) say a foreign graduate gets permanent registration in India only after:

• a course of at least 54 months, taught in English;
• an internship of at least 12 months in the same foreign medical institution;
• registration with the licensing body of that country, at par with its own citizens;
• a 12 month supervised internship in India and the FMGE (or NExT once it replaces it).

Schedule I of the same regulations is even clearer: the 12 month internship must come in addition to the course, at the same institution, with hands-on training in subjects such as medicine, surgery, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology and emergency care.

Now look at Cluj. The UMF Medicine curriculum for 2024-2025, the newest English curriculum on the faculty's curricula page, describes six years and 360 ECTS credits. Year 6 is taught in 7 week modules with exam sessions: family medicine, dermatology, obstetrics and gynaecology, psychiatry, infectious diseases, anaesthesia and more, ending with the graduation exam. There are also 160 hour summer practice blocks in years 1 to 5. What we did not find is a separate 12 month internship.

That doesn't mean the degree is worthless in India. It means the internship question is open, and the NMC, not us or the university, decides it. So ask UMF in writing how its Indian graduates document a 12 month internship for the NMC, and follow the latest NMC rules for MBBS abroad before you commit.

How much Romanian do you have to learn?

More than most students expect. Lectures are in English, but the hospitals in Cluj run in Romanian, and the university treats the language as a real subject, not a hobby.

The 2024-2025 curriculum says Romanian is compulsory for international students in years 1, 2 and 3, at 84 hours a year (3 hours a week). And then comes the line that matters: at the end of the 3rd year, students on the English and French programmes sit an eliminatory Romanian language test. Fail it and you can't simply carry on into the clinical years.

So among the Romania MBBS disadvantages, language is the one that tests you exactly when the clinical work starts. You'll be learning Romanian from zero while also learning anatomy, biochemistry and physiology. Our guide to the local language for MBBS in Europe explains why every EU medical school does this, and how to get ahead before you fly.

Why has tuition gone up for new students?

Fees are lower than at many EU universities, but they've been climbing, and that trend is one of the Romania MBBS disadvantages nobody puts in a brochure. The UMF tuition fee table for 2026-2027 lists what each year group pays this year for Medicine, for students from outside the EU:

The footnotes say earlier intakes keep their old fee ("remains unchanged"). That's good news for anyone already enrolled. For you, it shows the direction: the yearly fee for a new student went from 7,500 to 10,000 euros, a rise of one third, in a few intakes.

At 10,000 euros a year, six years of tuition comes to 60,000 euros. That's our sum, and it assumes your fee stays at your intake level, as it has for earlier groups; confirm this in your study contract. Rent, food and insurance come on top, and our guide to the cost of living in Europe for Indian MBBS students helps you budget for Cluj. Remember too that you earn and save in rupees, so a weaker rupee raises your real bill every year.

What does it cost to fail an exam?

Failing is expensive in Cluj, and the bill is in euros. Of all the Romania MBBS disadvantages, this is the one a weak first year turns into real money. The same 2026-2027 fee table spells it out for students from outside the EU:

• Third attempt at an exam: 150 euros per exam. EU students pay 150 lei for the same attempt; you pay in euros.
• Promoted with failed credits: you pay per failed credit, from 170 euros in years 1 and 2 down to 125 euros in years 5 and 6.
• Repeat ("supplementary") year: if you don't earn enough credits to move up, you repeat the year and pay 10% of the annual fee plus the failed credits.
• Repeating the graduation exam: 500 lei.

Here's a worked example, our arithmetic: a first-year subject worth 10 credits costs 1,700 euros to carry as failed credits, before any repeat year. And there's a time limit behind the money. The FMGL says the whole foreign course must be finished within ten years of joining, so every repeat year eats into a fixed window.

How strict are the payment rules?

Strict, and this is a quiet one among the Romania MBBS disadvantages. From year 2 on, tuition is due in two halves, on 16 October and 16 February. Pay late and the university may charge a penalty of 0.1% of the amount for every day of delay. If the money still hasn't arrived after 60 days, the fee table says the university will move to expel the student. Getting back in needs the rector's decision and a re-enrolment fee of 500 lei a year.

For a family sending money from India, this is one of the Romania MBBS disadvantages that matters month to month. A delayed education loan instalment or a bank transfer stuck for a few weeks isn't just an annoyance here. Plan each payment well before the due date.

What can go wrong during admission?

Admission at Cluj has no entrance exam, which many students like. Some Romania MBBS disadvantages start before you even arrive, though. But the UMF admission page for international candidates and its 2026 admission methodology carry a few risks you should read twice:

• Selection by documents only, with no appeal. A commission ranks your school results and achievements for 200 English seats in Cluj, and the results can't be contested.
• Money you won't get back. The 300 euro processing fee is non-refundable, and so is the half of the tuition you pay to confirm your place.
• Full fee before the visa. Non-EU students must pay the whole first-year tuition to get the type D study visa.
• Recognition can still fail. Your Class 12 studies must be recognised by Romania's Ministry of Education. If that recognition fails, you lose your student status.
• No quick switch. You can't change programme within your first year; a move between Medicine and Dental Medicine is possible only after year 1, if places allow.

Your documents also need a Hague Apostille, which our guide to the apostille for MBBS in Europe walks through. And don't forget the Indian gate: you still need a qualifying NEET score. NEETsheet's guide to NEET qualifying marks explains the percentile you need.

How small is the Indian community from Romania?

Very small, and for a 17 year old far from home it may be the most personal of the Romania MBBS disadvantages. The best official signal is the FMGE, the screening test every Indian foreign graduate must pass to practise at home. The NBEMS FMGE Performance Report 2025 shows:

• December 2025: 7 Romania graduates sat the test and 2 passed (28.57%), out of 42,868 candidates in total.
• June 2025: 9 Romania graduates sat it and 1 passed (11.11%), out of 36,037 in total.

The graduates came from Constanta, Targu Mures, Iasi, Timisoara, Oradea and Bucharest. None was listed from UMF Cluj in either session. So, as with the other Romania MBBS disadvantages, plan for it: you'd be one of very few Indians in your year, with few seniors who've already been through the FMGE.

Don't read the low pass rates as a verdict on Cluj, because no Cluj graduate is in them. Read them as a sign that Romania is still a rare route for Indians, and that FMGE preparation will be largely up to you. Our FMGE result guide and the explainer on FMG internship and registration show what comes after the exam.

Is there an upside?

Yes, and it's real. The Romania MBBS disadvantages sit next to some clear strengths. UMF Cluj publishes its fees, curriculum and admission rules in English. There's no entrance exam, so your Class 12 record does the work. Earlier intakes kept their fee once they enrolled. And Romania is an EU member, so the degree is an EU medical qualification.

So who is Romania for? A disciplined student who'll take Romanian seriously from week one, whose family can pay on time in euros, and who is ready to chase the NMC internship question in writing before enrolling. It suits less well a student who needs a big Indian community or who wants the simplest possible route back to Indian registration.

How should you check UMF Cluj before you apply?

Use this checklist so none of the Romania MBBS disadvantages catches you out:

1. Confirm your NEET result qualifies you, and if you're still preparing, read NEETsheet's guide to NEET 2027 eligibility.
2. Write to UMF and ask how its Indian graduates show the NMC a 12 month internship in the same institution. Keep the answer.
3. Read the latest curriculum and note the Romanian hours and the year 3 eliminatory test.
4. Check the current fee table and ask whether your yearly fee stays fixed for your intake.
5. Budget for the 300 euro processing fee, half the tuition to confirm, the full first-year fee before the visa, and a reserve for resits.
6. Compare the Cluj subjects with the Indian syllabus using NEETsheet's overview of the MBBS syllabus in India, since the FMGE tests Indian priorities.

Weigh the Romania MBBS disadvantages against your own budget and marks, then check dates on our MBBS deadlines page. For the city and the university itself, see the Romania country page and the Iuliu Hatieganu University page. And if you've never lived through a Transylvanian winter, read our winter guide for Indian MBBS students before you pack.

Talk it through before you decide

Every country has trade-offs. The Romania MBBS disadvantages are easier to manage when you've planned for them before you apply, not after.

Sources

• Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, "Admission International Candidates" (fees, seats, selection, visa), read on 14 October 2026: umfcluj.ro
• UMF Cluj-Napoca, Methodology of admission for international candidates 2026 (non-refundable fees, recognition of studies, visa, no transfer), read on 14 October 2026: cdn.umfcluj.ro
• UMF Cluj-Napoca, Tuition fees for the academic year 2026-2027 (tuition by year, failed credits, supplementary year, penalties, third exam attempt), read on 14 October 2026: cdn.umfcluj.ro
• UMF Cluj-Napoca, Faculty of Medicine, Curriculum Medicine 2024-2025 English (Romanian language, eliminatory test, year 6 modules), read on 14 October 2026: cdn.umfcluj.ro
• National Medical Commission, Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021, regulation 4 and Schedule I, read on 14 October 2026: nmc.org.in
• National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, FMGE Performance Report 2025, read on 14 October 2026: natboard.edu.in