Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
Almaty • Kazakhstan
6-Year MBBS/MD Course, with Internship
Kazakhstan's largest and most recognised classical university
Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU), founded in 1934 and named after the influential medieval philosopher and scientist Al-Farabi, is the largest classical university in Kazakhstan and one of the most widely recognised university names in Central Asia. Based in Almaty, the university's scale — multiple faculties, a large campus, and a long research history — puts it in a different category from many of the smaller, medicine-focused institutions international students often consider.
The university runs a six-year MBBS/MD-equivalent programme that includes a compulsory internship year, delivered in English for international students. As a large, multi-faculty university, KazNU's medical programme benefits from shared access to a wider academic ecosystem — research centres, laboratories and specialist departments — that a standalone medical academy typically can't offer at the same scale. This breadth also tends to translate into a more varied administrative and academic support structure, since a university of this size typically maintains dedicated international offices, career services and research support that smaller institutions run with far fewer staff.
Being based in Almaty adds the same practical advantages that come with any Almaty-located programme: strong flight connectivity from India, established banking and healthcare infrastructure, and a well-developed South Asian student community built up over many years rather than a handful of intakes.
The university is organised into dozens of faculties spanning the sciences, humanities, law, economics and medicine, with a total student population considerably larger than any single-purpose medical academy in the country. For an international medical student, this scale mainly shows up in the breadth of shared resources — larger libraries, more varied research centres, and a bigger, more diverse campus community — rather than in anything specific to the six-year MBBS/MD curriculum itself, which follows the same general structure used across Kazakhstan's medical education system.
A nationally known university name
KazNU is Kazakhstan's largest classical university, which carries recognition value beyond just the medical faculty when families are comparing options.
Located in Almaty
Better flight connectivity, hospital access and everyday infrastructure than smaller Kazakh university towns.
Fixed tuition for your batch
Tuition as stated on the official fee sheet remains unchanged for the whole duration of the course for students joining in a given year.
Multiple-entry study visa
The visa arranged through the university permits multiple entries for one year, useful for students planning to travel home during breaks.
Hostel & mess compulsory for two years only
Compulsory for years one and two, after which students are free to arrange their own accommodation from year three.
Refundable hostel security
Students receive a refundable $100 hostel security deposit back directly from the university on completion of the degree.
How the six-year MBBS/MD programme with internship is organised
Years one and two — foundation sciences
The early years cover anatomy, physiology, biochemistry and medical terminology, with laboratory and simulation-based skills work running alongside lectures. This is also the period during which hostel and mess stay is compulsory, giving new international students a closely supervised base while they adjust.
Years three, four and five — clinical training
Students move into pathology, pharmacology, microbiology and general medicine, with hospital-based clinical postings increasing progressively across these years. Being part of a large university with strong faculty ties across departments, students often benefit from a broader spread of specialist exposure than a smaller standalone medical academy would offer.
Sixth year — internship
The final year is structured as a compulsory internship, reflected directly in the fee sheet, which lists the sixth-year charge specifically as "Internship" at the same rate as the preceding years' tuition.
Medium of instruction and intake
International students are taught in English throughout the six years. The current fee sheet reflects the intake for the session beginning September 2026, running through the 2026–27 academic year, and was last updated on 5th June 2026.
Assessment and academic progression
Progression between years is assessed through semester examinations, practical laboratory work, and — in the later years — evaluated clinical rotations. Translated transcripts are typically available at the end of each academic year for students who need them for loan, scholarship or record purposes back home.
Who can apply, and what the process looks like
Eligibility criteria for Indian students
Applicants are expected to have completed higher secondary education (10+2) with Physics, Chemistry and Biology, typically with a minimum aggregate around 50% for general category candidates. A qualifying NEET score is mandatory for Indian nationals, in line with National Medical Commission requirements for anyone intending to practise in India after a foreign medical degree. Most successful applicants fall between 17 and 25 years of age at admission.
Documents typically required
The standard application file includes the passport, 10th and 12th mark sheets and certificates, NEET scorecard, passport photographs, and a medical fitness certificate. Once the admission letter is issued, the university's own process — mirrored directly in the payment schedule below — moves through documentation, invitation, visa stamping and air ticketing, each tied to a specific instalment and deadline. Our documentation team reviews every file before submission, since a missing attestation stamp or an expired medical certificate are the two issues most likely to cause delays at this stage.
Counselling
Share your NEET score and academic records for an eligibility check against this year's intake.
Registration
Pay the counselling & registration instalment; we submit your file to KazNU's admissions office.
Admission letter
Once issued, the documentation instalment becomes payable within five days, as per the university's own schedule.
Invitation & visa
On receiving the invitation letter, the remaining instalments cover visa stamping and air ticket fare.
Departure
Pre-departure briefing, and airport pickup direct to the hostel on arrival in Almaty.
MBBS/MD fee structure at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University
All figures below are reproduced exactly as issued in the university's official fee sheet, updated 5th June 2026, calculated at 1 US$ = ₹95.
| Particulars | US$ | ₹ (INR) |
|---|---|---|
| Annual tuition fee | 5,400$ (26 lac ₸) | 5,13,000 |
| Annual medical insurance | 100 | 9,500 |
| Documentation | 100 | 9,500 |
| Hostel | 1,000 | 95,000 |
| One-time charge | 1,000 | 95,000 |
| Total for first year (approx.) | 7,600$ | ₹7,22,000 |
| Year | Particulars | Tenge (₸) | ₹ (INR) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd year | Annual tuition fee | 26,00,000 ₸ | 5,13,000 |
| 3rd year | Annual tuition fee | 26,00,000 ₸ | 5,13,000 |
| 4th year | Annual tuition fee | 26,00,000 ₸ | 5,13,000 |
| 5th year | Annual tuition fee | 26,00,000 ₸ | 5,13,000 |
| 6th year | Internship | 26,00,000 ₸ | 5,13,000 |
Figures reflect the official university fee sheet at the stated exchange rate. Currency movements between now and the date of actual conversion or travel will affect the ₹ amount payable — the ₸/US$ tuition itself does not change for your batch.
- Counselling & registration feeAt the time of registration₹25,000
- Documentation feeWithin 5 days of receiving the admission letter₹85,000
- Invitation, visa & othersWithin 5 days of receiving the invitation letter₹40,000
- Air ticket fare (approx.)Along with visa payment₹30,000
What's included
- ✓Admission registration & admission letter issuance
- ✓Visa stamping — multiple-entry study visa for one year
- ✓Immigration clearance
- ✓Documents translation
- ✓Police registration
- ✓Medical clearance
- ✓Ministry permission / approval
- ✓Student I-card issuance (RFID-enabled)
- ✓One-way air ticket (New Delhi to Almaty)
- ✓Pre-departure briefing
- ✓Legalisation of documentation (MEA)
- ✓Airport pickup & drop at hostel
Facilities and infrastructure
A brief look at what's available to students day to day, beyond the classroom.
A large, multi-faculty campus
As Kazakhstan's largest classical university, KazNU offers access to a far wider set of laboratories, libraries and research facilities than a standalone medical academy typically maintains.
Teaching hospitals across Almaty
Clinical postings run through Almaty's wider hospital network, giving students exposure across general medicine, surgery and allied specialties during the middle and final years.
RFID student I-card
Every international student receives an RFID-enabled I-card as part of admission, used for campus access and local registration checks throughout the course.
International student support
A dedicated office manages visa renewals, police registration, medical clearance and other recurring compliance requirements for foreign students.
"Knowing it was Kazakhstan's largest and most established university, not a small standalone medical college, gave us more confidence in the long-term recognition of the degree."
Parent of an incoming student — counselled through Alfie Education, admitted to Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
Settling into Almaty
What day-to-day life looks like for an international student outside the classroom, in Kazakhstan's largest city.
Hostel & mess
Compulsory for the first two years, giving new students a secure, supervised base while they settle in — with a fixed annual food cost of 1,300 USD (₹1,23,500) rather than an unpredictable monthly bill.
Flexibility from year three
Once hostel and mess stop being compulsory, students commonly move to shared private accommodation nearby, and the refundable $100 security deposit is returned directly by the university on graduation.
Climate
Almaty has a continental climate with cold, snowy winters and warm summers. As a larger city, heating, transport and everyday services are generally more reliable through the colder months than in smaller towns.
Getting there
Almaty is one of Kazakhstan's best-connected cities by air, with direct or single-connection flights from several major Indian cities; the admission package includes a one-way ticket from New Delhi to Almaty plus airport pickup on arrival.
Food & daily life
Almaty's established South Asian student population means Indian grocery stores and informal cooking groups are considerably easier to find than in smaller Kazakh university towns.
Campus community
Being part of a large national university also means a broader, more international mix of students on campus, not limited to a single-faculty medical cohort.
Local registration & banking
Police registration and initial documentation are handled as part of the admission package, while Almaty's larger banking network makes ongoing transactions and remittances simpler once you're settled in.
Coming back to practise in India
We verify a university's current NMC eligibility status directly against official records before recommending it to any family, and we encourage every applicant to reconfirm this themselves before finalising admission, since eligibility lists are reviewed periodically by the regulator. This applies to KazNU as it would to any Kazakhstan medical university under consideration.
After completing the six-year programme, including the compulsory internship, returning graduates prepare for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE), which is being phased into the National Exit Test (NExT) as the common licensing pathway for both Indian and foreign medical graduates. Passing this examination is what allows registration with the Medical Council and the legal right to practise medicine in India. Our support continues past admission — we guide returning students toward FMGE/NExT preparation resources so the return home is as organised as the departure abroad.
Graduates who want to pursue postgraduate specialisation can do so either within Kazakhstan, in a third country, or by returning to India and competing through the standard NEET-PG route open to all MBBS graduates once they hold valid Indian medical registration. We recommend weighing this decision during the final undergraduate year, since it materially affects how the following two to three years are planned.
Because KazNU is a large, multi-faculty national university rather than a single-purpose medical academy, some families also ask whether that changes anything about recognition. It doesn't — recognition is assessed at the level of the medical degree and its listing status, not the university's overall size or breadth of faculties. What the university's scale does offer is a wider academic environment and a name that's broadly recognised across Kazakhstan and the region, which some families find reassuring alongside the formal recognition checks we carry out regardless.
It's worth families understanding that recognition, licensing and career planning are three separate steps, often confused as one. Recognition is about the university and degree being acceptable to regulators; licensing is the exam-based process of actually being permitted to practise; and career planning — general practice, postgraduate specialisation, or working abroad — is a personal decision that becomes considerably easier once the first two are settled. We walk every family through these three stages separately during counselling, since conflating them is where most confusion about "is this degree valid" tends to come from.
Everything families usually ask about Al-Farabi KazNU
Ready to explore Al-Farabi Kazakh National University?
Talk to an Alfie counsellor for a personalised breakdown of fees, eligibility and the visa timeline for the September 2026 intake.