Ministry: Dental Studies to Be Shortened from Six to Five Years

Bratislava, May 15 (TASR) - The study of dentistry at the Jessenius Medical Faculty of Comenius University in Martin (Zilina region) and the Faculty of Medicine of Pavol Jozef Safarik University in Kosice will be shortened from six to five years, and a modified study programme will be introduced as of the 2025/2026 academic year, TASR was told by the Education, Research, Development and Youth Ministry's communications department on Wednesday. Similar modifications await the Faculty of Medicine of Comenius University in Bratislava and the Faculty of Medicine of the Slovak Medical University in Bratislava in the future. "The new study programmes reflect current trends in dentistry and the requirements for graduates. With this change, we're also making our medical faculties in Europe more competitive," said Education Minister Tomas Drucker (Voice-SD). State Secretary for higher education and academic research Robert Zsembera added that the shortening of the dentistry study programme is the result of long-term processes. According to the ministry, the change in the length of studies is necessary and stems from the European Commission's directive of March 4, 2024, specifically its rules on minimum training requirements for the professions of nurse, dentist and pharmacist. Teams from the two universities have been working on the necessary changes for many months and have approved them through internal quality systems. am/df