MBBS in Danube Private University (DPU) Faculty of Medicine

The University and What Makes It Different

People just call it DPU, or Danube Private University. Its story with human medicine is a genuinely recent one, even though the university itself is not brand new. DPU was founded in 2009 in Krems an der Donau, becoming the first private university in Austria to gain accreditation for a Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. For its first decade, that faculty ran almost entirely on dentistry, training dentists to the Dr. med. dent. degree, before human medicine arrived as a full teaching programme much later.
Here is a fact most guides skip entirely. The Master's stage in Human Medicine had a genuinely bumpy path to get here. An earlier version of the programme lost its accreditation in 2021, and it took until 2024 for Austria's private-university regulator to approve a reworked Master's, this time built around a clinical partnership in Wiener Neustadt rather than the university's home base in Krems. The first full Bachelor's cohort in Human Medicine, 150 students, only began lectures in September 2025.
Another detail worth knowing. This expansion is not incidental either. DPU now offers 20 full scholarships a year, covering tuition entirely, aimed squarely at keeping newly trained doctors working in rural Lower Austria, where the region has struggled with physician shortages. So this campus, much like some newer regional medical routes elsewhere in Europe, exists partly to solve a real local doctor shortage.
This is a private university, run under Austria's Private Universities Act and funded through tuition rather than state money. Clinical training for Human Medicine runs through a cooperation with the NÖ Landesgesundheitsagentur, Lower Austria's state health agency, covering the university hospitals in Wiener Neustadt, Neunkirchen, and Hochegg.

The Krems Campus and Its Setting

Krems an der Donau itself is a small historic town on the Danube, sitting inside the Wachau, a UNESCO World Heritage cultural landscape known for vineyards and river scenery, only about 70 kilometres from Vienna. DPU's campus sits in the Stein district, giving students a genuinely small, close-knit setting rather than a large city university feel.
What makes the Human Medicine route distinctive is how it splits across two locations. The preclinical Bachelor's stage runs in Krems, while the clinical Master's stage moves to Wiener Neustadt, in cooperation with the regional hospital network there. That two-site structure is new for DPU, since dentistry has always stayed fully in Krems.

Course Structure, Cost, and Practical Details

Here is where this page needs to be direct with you. Medicine at DPU is not an MBBS degree. It runs as a Bachelor's degree in Human Medicine, three years, followed by a three-year Master's leading to the Dr. med. univ. qualification, six years altogether, under Austria's medical education framework.
Teaching runs in German. The Bachelor's stage covers preclinical subjects in Krems, including a 13-week nursing placement and outpatient observation periods, while the Master's stage moves clinical teaching to Wiener Neustadt and closes with a clinical-practical year inside the hospital.
Admission does not run through Austria's national MedAT exam, the route used by the country's public medical universities. Instead, applicants apply directly to DPU, needing a recognised university entrance qualification such as the Matura or Abitur, plus proof of the additional subject knowledge the programme requires.
On cost, there is no getting around it. DPU is fully private, and Human Medicine tuition runs to EUR 14,175 per semester for both the Bachelor's and Master's stages, totalling EUR 170,100 across the full six years, though the university's 20 annual scholarships can cover this in full for selected students.

Quick Overview

Fee Structure

Why DPU's Faculty of Medicine Deserves a Harder Look Than You've Given It

A Medical Programme Built to Solve a Real Regional Doctor Shortage

Most rival pages never explain this properly. DPU's Human Medicine track was not created for prestige alone. Its 20 annual full scholarships are specifically designed to keep newly trained doctors working in rural Lower Austria, a region that has genuinely struggled to attract and retain physicians.

A Genuinely Young Programme With a Rocky Path to Approval

Many guides gloss over how new this programme actually is. An earlier version of the Master's lost its accreditation in 2021, and it took a reworked clinical partnership in Wiener Neustadt to win it back in 2024. The first full Bachelor's cohort only began in September 2025, making Human Medicine a genuinely recent addition to a university that built its reputation on dentistry first.

Honest Assessment

Be clear about a few real points here. This is a private, fee-paying route into medicine, with costs running well above Austria's public medical universities, which charge little beyond a small administrative fee. German fluency is required throughout, since there is no English-language version of the degree. So, who fits here best? Students who want to avoid Austria's competitive MedAT exam, who can afford or secure one of the scholarships, and who like the idea of a small, close-knit campus split between the Wachau and Wiener Neustadt. Students hoping for a long-established, free public route should look elsewhere. Still, for those who can meet the cost and language bar, DPU offers small class sizes, a genuinely hands-on clinical partnership, and a scenic, historic setting.