Transfer From LSMU Kaunas to UPJŠ Dentistry

LSMU is a strong dental school. Its Odontology programme is a five-year, 300-ECTS integrated degree in English, clinical work happens in groups of up to ten students, and 28 percent of its students come from 88 countries. People do not leave because it is weak.

They leave for the ordinary human reasons. Kaunas winters, distance from family, cost, or the realisation that they would rather finish somewhere else. If that is you, here is the process without the agency vagueness.

Route 1: transfer while you are still enrolled

This is the cleaner path, and it has a hard date attached.

• Who it is for: students currently enrolled at LSMU who have met all conditions to continue into the next academic year. Interrupted, terminated or expelled studies do not qualify.
• Deadline: the signed Request for Transfer must be submitted in writing by 15 August.
• Entrance exam: not required on this route.
• Extra documents: on top of the recognition paperwork you need an authorization letter, confirmation of good academic standing, a medical certificate, a passport copy and a birth certificate.

Route 2: entrance exam, then recognition

If the 15 August date has passed, or you are no longer formally enrolled, this route stays open.

• Step one: apply as a new student and sit the UPJŠ entrance exam. It is 200 multiple-choice questions, 100 biology and 100 chemistry, in one 2.5-hour sitting, maximum 800 points, with no negative marking. The 2026 sittings are 17 June and 12 August in Košice.
• Step two: once you pass, submit your recognition request to the Study Department by 15 September, with the application form, original transcripts showing completion dates, course syllabi and proof of payment.
• Step three: the faculty decides which subjects are recognised and which year you enter. This is case by case, always.

You cannot run both routes for the same programme in the same year, so choose based on where you honestly stand in mid-August.

How your LSMU subjects will actually be treated

This is the part that decides your entry year, and it is mostly about assessment types rather than content.

• Graded to graded: a UPJŠ subject assessed by grade can only be recognised if your LSMU version was graded too. A pass/fail equivalent will not satisfy it.
• Pass/fail subjects: these come across as "passed, E, sufficient". Worth knowing if you care about your average, because an E is not a neutral entry.
• Completion type must match: an exam-completed UPJŠ subject needs an exam-completed counterpart. A credit test where an exam was expected tends to fail recognition.
• Five-year recency: only subjects completed within the last five years, counted from the start of the academic year, are eligible.
• Same level, same field: the course has to come from another faculty at the same level with the same or only slightly different programme, and be compulsory or compulsory-elective at UPJŠ.
• Online study caveat: since 2024, subjects completed online in countries outside the EU, Israel, USA, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea are not recognised.

Curriculum, LSMU next to UPJŠ

The good news for anyone in the early years: the preclinical blocks line up well. LSMU runs Anatomy, Histology and Embryology, Biochemistry and Physiology across years one and two, then moves into the clinical years with cariology, endodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, periodontology, oral and maxillofacial surgery and paediatric dentistry.

UPJŠ Dental Medicine is also a five-year, ten-term English programme awarding the MDDr. degree, which the university describes as equivalent to a D.M.D. The preclinical spine is the same set of subjects, so early-year recognition is usually the most straightforward.

One quirk with no equivalent: LSMU requires Lithuanian language, and UPJŠ requires Slovak instead. That subject will not carry over in either direction, and both exist for the same practical reason, which is talking to patients in clinics.

What it costs

• LSMU Odontology: EUR 13,600 per year for years one to three, rising to EUR 14,100 for years four and five, paid in two instalments.
• UPJŠ Dental Medicine: EUR 13,500 per year for 2026/2027 per Rector's Decision No. 3/2026, flat across the degree, plus a EUR 30 application fee.
• Recognition: EUR 2 per subject, capped at EUR 15 total.
• Living in Košice: a room in a shared private flat usually runs EUR 200 to 300 a month, university dormitories roughly EUR 70 to 100.

So the tuition is close, and slightly lower at UPJŠ in the later years since it does not step up. Medently charges students nothing for handling any of this, which is worth comparing against what agencies quote for the same paperwork.

Leaving LSMU without losing your documents

Order matters here. Get your stamped original transcript of records and your official course syllabi from the study centre before you deregister, and request them right after the spring semester when the office is less busy. Then get everything officially translated into Slovak or English.

Incomplete applications are rejected rather than sent back for correction, so the translation step is not optional and not a place to save money.

Does the switch affect registering as a dentist later?

No, and note that dentists register with the GDC, not the GMC. The GDC processes applications from dentists holding EEA qualifications listed in Annex V, point V.3 of Directive 2005/36/EC through a near-automatic recognition process. The UK Government reviewed these arrangements in 2023 and extended them for five years, to roughly mid-2028.

Both the Lithuanian and Slovak dental degrees sit inside that framework, so moving between them does not change your position.

FAQ

Do transfer students have to take the UPJŠ entrance exam?

Not on the transfer route, if you are enrolled and in good standing and file by 15 August. On the recognition route you do sit it, and then apply for recognition by 15 September.

Which of my LSMU subjects will UPJŠ recognise?

Most commonly the preclinical ones, anatomy, histology and embryology, biochemistry and physiology, provided the completion type matches and they were graded where UPJŠ grades. The faculty decides subject by subject.

Will I have to repeat a year?

Possibly. Your entry year follows from what gets recognised, and UPJŠ makes that decision individually. Treat any promise of "no time lost" made before your transcript is assessed as marketing.

How much does transferring cost?

EUR 2 per subject up to EUR 15 for recognition, plus the EUR 30 application fee on the exam route. Our help is free.

How long is dentistry at UPJŠ Košice?

Five years, ten terms, awarding the MDDr. degree. Same length as LSMU Odontology, so a move does not extend the programme itself.

Sources

• UPJŠ Faculty of Medicine, Transfer and Recognition: both routes, deadlines, grading treatment, fees and document lists.
• UPJŠ programmes in English and Rector's Decision No. 3/2026: five-year MDDr. programme and 2026/2027 tuition.
• LSMU Odontology and tuition pages: programme structure, ECTS, cohort data and yearly fees.
• GDC: registration route for dentists with EEA qualifications under Directive 2005/36/EC.