Samara State Medical University (SamSMU) is a state medical university in Samara, Russia, that teaches General Medicine (MBBS) in English for 450,000 RUB in the first year (2026/27) and in Russian from 360,000 RUB. Foreign students from visa countries now live in its hostels free in years 1 to 4.
Samara State Medical University is a public medical university in Samara, a city of about 1.14 million people on the Volga River in the south-east of European Russia. It belongs to the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and trains doctors, dentists, pharmacists and other health specialists. Its English site says it has more than 6,000 students, about 900 of them international.
For international applicants, General Medicine (code 31.05.01, the Russian equivalent of MBBS) is the main programme. It lasts 6 years and is taught in two streams: fully in Russian, or in English with Russian taught alongside it.
SamSMU's own pages say the university passed an institutional accreditation by the Independent Agency for Accreditation and Rating (IAAR) in May 2022 for five years and that it is accredited to the standards of the World Federation for Medical Education (WFME).
The first-year fee for General Medicine in English is 450,000 RUB (≈ $5,580) for 2026/27, according to the price list SamSMU approved by order No. 110 of 29 May 2026. The Russian-medium stream is cheaper: 380,000 RUB (≈ $4,710) for students who need a visa (India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bangladesh and most of Africa and Asia) and 360,000 RUB (≈ $4,470) for citizens of visa-free countries.
| Item (as of November 2026) | Fee |
|---|---|
| General Medicine in English, year 1 | 450,000 RUB (≈ $5,580) |
| General Medicine in Russian, year 1 (visa countries) | 380,000 RUB (≈ $4,710) |
| General Medicine in Russian, year 1 (visa-free countries) | 360,000 RUB (≈ $4,470) |
| Hostel, contract students not exempt, per year | 36,624–41,748 RUB (≈ $454–$518) |
| Online Biology and Chemistry prep course in English (2026 edition) | 140,000 RUB (≈ $1,740) |
The price list shows lower fees for later years (down to 373,500 RUB (≈ $4,630) in year 6), but those are what older groups pay now, not a promise for new students. At today's ladder six years in English would cost 2,467,100 RUB (≈ $30,600); plan for yearly increases. Tuition does not include the hostel, medical insurance (signed with SamSMU Clinics after enrolment), visa costs, food or flights.
Choose the English stream if you want to start medical subjects straight away and if you are from India, because India's licensing rules require the whole course to be taught in English. Choose the Russian stream if you can spend a year learning Russian first and want the lower fee. In the Russian stream, entrance tests are Biology, Chemistry and Russian, with a minimum of 50 out of 100 in each for General Medicine.
Even in the English stream you will need Russian. From the third year most teaching moves to hospitals, and patients in Samara speak Russian.
Foreign applicants to the English stream apply directly to the university between 20 June and 18 August, sit two entrance tests (Biology and Chemistry) and, once enrolled, get a visa invitation. These dates come from SamSMU's 2026 admission rules.
Russian-medium applicants who are already in Russia or do not need a visa have an earlier window: documents from 20 June to 11 July and entrance tests from 13 to 25 July. If you are from a visa country and want the Russian stream, ask the international office about the preparatory faculty route first.
Free study through the Russian government quota is possible at SamSMU, as at other state universities, but quota places are mostly in Russian and you apply on the official portal education-in-russia.com, not to the university. For the 2027/28 intake the portal's deadline for non-CIS countries is 15 January 2027.
SamSMU houses international students in its own hostels near the academic buildings and the university clinics, mainly at 12 Kievskaya Street and 16 Gagarin Street. A typical block has 2 to 4 rooms with a shared corridor and bathroom. Rooms are given only after the enrolment order, and you need your passport, two 3 x 4 photos and a health certificate to move in.
The cost changed on 1 October 2026. By rector's order No. 488-u of 7 July 2026, foreign students in years 1 to 4 who need a visa for Russia, in both the English and Russian streams, pay no fee for a standard hostel place. Other students on paid contracts pay 3,052–3,479 RUB a month (≈ $38–$43) depending on the building.
Clinical training takes place at SamSMU Clinics, the university's own hospital complex on Karl Marx Avenue, and at about 30 large medical organisations in Samara and the Samara region, according to the university. Anatomy is taught with cadavers and with the Pirogov Table, an interactive 3D anatomy simulator developed at SamSMU.
No foreign university is "NMC approved": the National Medical Commission (NMC) of India does not publish a list of approved foreign universities. Instead, its Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021 set conditions that your course must meet if you want to practise in India. The main ones are: at least 54 months of study, taught in English for the whole course; a 12-month internship at the same foreign institution; eligibility for a medical licence in the country where you studied; finishing within 10 years of starting; no transfer between universities; and then a 12-month supervised internship in India and the screening exam. You must also qualify in NEET-UG before you go.
SamSMU's English stream lasts 6 years, so the length condition is met. Before you pay, ask SamSMU in writing how its English-stream graduates meet the 12-month internship condition, and keep the reply.
To practise in India, graduates of foreign medical universities must pass India's Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), run by the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS). Graduates of all Russian universities passed at 18.07% in June 2025 and 30.94% in December 2025. NBEMS still runs the FMGE (it lists an October 2026 session); the National Exit Test (NExT) has not replaced it yet.
Samara is a large regional city with hot summers and cold, snowy winters; budget for a proper coat and boots before December. The Volga embankment is the main place to walk and swim in summer.
Money is the practical problem. Visa and Mastercard cards issued outside Russia do not work there, and many Russian banks are cut off from SWIFT, so you cannot simply use your home card. Plan how your family will send tuition and living money, open a Russian bank account with a Mir card after arrival, and bring enough cash for the first weeks. We found no official safety statistics for foreign students in Samara. Foreign students in Russian cities do sometimes meet rude or hostile behaviour, so keep the international office number saved: +7 846 374-10-04, ext. 4617.
Living in the university hostel is much cheaper than renting a flat in the city, which is why most foreign students stay there. He gives the hostel fee as about 35,000 RUB a year (≈ $434).
— an Indian first-year MBBS student at SamSMU filming a winter hostel tour (video)
Hostel 2 runs on passes: every resident taps a card at the turnstile, security guards are on duty around the clock and outside visitors are not allowed in. Some first- and second-year classes, such as physics, are even held in classrooms on its ground floor.
— the same Indian first-year student (video)
Because first-year timetables are packed, most new Indian students pay for the Indian mess run by cooks inside the hostel instead of cooking for themselves.
— the same Indian first-year student (video)
The student's figure of about 35,000 RUB a year (≈ $434) matches the rates that applied before October 2026. Under the university's order of 7 July 2026, first- to fourth-year foreign students from visa countries no longer pay for a standard place, so check the current rate in your hostel contract.
It offers a 6-year English-medium General Medicine programme with a first-year fee of 450,000 RUB (≈ $5,580) and its own university clinics.
SamSMU itself does not ask for NEET, but India's NMC requires Indian students to qualify in NEET-UG before studying medicine abroad if they want to practise in India later. Without it you cannot get a licence in India, whatever university you attend.
Free places for foreigners exist only through the Russian government quota or international agreements. You apply on education-in-russia.com by 15 January 2027 for the 2027/28 intake, and quota programmes are usually taught in Russian after a preparatory year.
From 1 October 2026 it is free for foreign students in years 1 to 4 who need a visa for Russia, for a standard place. Other fee-paying students pay 3,052–3,479 RUB a month (≈ $38–$43).
According to SamSMU's 2026 admission rules, the English-medium stream starts in October, later than the Russian-medium stream, which begins on 1 September. Your visa invitation and travel should be planned around that date.
Last updated: 1 November 2026. Fees and regulations change; check the official sources above before you apply.
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Kazan State Medical University (KSMU) is a state medical university in Kazan, Russia, dating from 1814 and teaching more than 2,200 international students. For 2026/27 General Medicine costs 636,000 RUB a year in English or Russian. You apply between 20 June and 15 July and pass online tests in Chemistry and English or Russian, with at least 65 points in each.
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