Best Universities to Study Medicine in Italy in English: A Comparison for UAE Students Applying in 2027

Every year, more UAE families choose to study medicine abroad rather than compete for the few local seats or pay for a private medical program in the US or UK. Italy has become one of the most practical answers, offering English-taught Medicine and Surgery degrees at universities with attached teaching hospitals, at tuition levels that are often a fraction of comparable programs elsewhere. This guide, built by GuideMe for students planning to apply during the 2027/28 admission cycle, compares five private Italian universities UAE families ask us about most: Humanitas, San Raffaele, Cattolica, UniCamillus, and Campus Bio-Medico, covering what each offers, how admission works, what it costs, and the planning that goes alongside the academics.

A note on timing: Italian universities publish a fresh admission call (bando) for each academic year a few months before that year’s entrance tests. At the time of writing, several 2027/28 calls have not yet been published, so the figures below reflect the most recently published cycle for each university. The structure and timing tend to repeat year to year, but every number here should be confirmed against the official call once released.

Why UAE Students Study Medicine Abroad in Italy

For many UAE families, the decision to study medicine abroad comes down to three factors: cost, competitiveness, and language. Local medical seats are limited and highly competitive, and private medical programs in the US, UK, or Australia often run well beyond USD 40,000 a year. Italy’s private medical universities charge roughly EUR 18,000 to EUR 23,000 a year, while public Italian universities charge far less for eligible students, and the English-taught degree leads to a European MD at universities attached to genuine teaching hospitals.

This path tends to work well in Italy because it doesn't use a single national entrance exam shared by every medical school. Public universities use IMAT, a centrally administered test, while private universities like the five covered here set and mark their own entrance exams on their own calendars. A UAE applicant can realistically sit several different private university tests in the same cycle, which widens the odds of securing a seat compared with a system built around one exam and one shot.

Public vs Private: How Italy’s Medical Admission System Works

Before comparing specific schools, it helps to understand how the system works, since it looks different from the single-exam systems used elsewhere.

●        Public universities (Milan Statale, Pavia, Bologna, Padua, Sapienza Rome, and others) use IMAT, a single national test typically held in September through the Universitaly portal. Tuition is income-based and can be very low, but non-EU seats are limited and competition is intense.

●        Private universities (the five covered in this guide, among others) set their own entrance exams, usually held between autumn and spring. Tuition is fixed regardless of income, generally EUR 18,000 to EUR 23,000 a year, but a candidate can sit more than one private university’s test in the same cycle.

●        English-taught places are reserved separately from Italian-taught places at nearly every university, so applicants should always confirm they are registering for the correct call.

●        Clinical-year Italian ability matters at some schools even when teaching is in English. For example, Humanitas conducts clerkships in Italian hospitals from year three, so non-native speakers are expected to build working Italian during the degree.

Five English-Taught Medical Schools Worth Comparing for 2027

The five universities below are the ones UAE families who study medicine abroad most often shortlist, each with a genuinely different profile once you look past “English-taught medicine in Italy” as a category. The table summarizes the headline numbers; the profiles below explain what actually distinguishes them.

University	Location	Admission test	Non-EU seats (most recent call)	Approx. annual tuition
Humanitas University	Pieve Emanuele, near Milan	HUMAT (own test)	50 (Medicine), plus a separate MEDTEC track	Approx. EUR 23,000
Vita-Salute San Raffaele	Milan	IMDP admission test (own test)	64	Approx. EUR 20,600
Università Cattolica (MD International Programme)	Rome (Gemelli campus)	Own test	50	Approx. EUR 18,000
UniCamillus	Rome	Written test, plus oral for non-EU candidates abroad	Set yearly by decree	Approx. EUR 21,000
Campus Bio-Medico	Rome	Own test	Set yearly by decree	Approx. EUR 19,000

Humanitas University: Teaching Hospital Access from Year One

Humanitas sits next to Humanitas Research Hospital in Rozzano, on Milan’s southern edge, and the six-year, 360-credit programme is taught entirely in English, with no separate English certificate required since the HUMAT entrance test itself is administered in English. From year three, clerkships rotate across four Humanitas hospitals in Rozzano, Milan, Castellanza, and Bergamo. Clinical training is in Italian, so non-native speakers are expected to build working Italian over the degree, with language support. Humanitas also runs MEDTEC, a biomedical engineering and medicine track with Politecnico di Milano, suited to students who want engineering alongside clinical training.

Vita-Salute San Raffaele: A Research-Driven Campus in Milan

San Raffaele’s International Medical Doctor Program is a single-cycle, English-taught MD housed on the campus of the San Raffaele Hospital group, one of Italy’s larger private research and teaching hospital networks. The admission test runs entirely in English, remotely proctored, with no Italian tested at any stage. A CEFR C1 English certificate is required at enrolment unless the applicant completed their last two years of secondary school fully in English, which covers most UAE applicants from British or American curriculum schools. San Raffaele also reserves one of the larger non-EU seat allocations, which can make it a realistic target for a strong applicant, not just a top-of-class one.

Università Cattolica: Built Around USMLE and US Degree Recognition

Cattolica’s MD International Programme in Rome stands out for being deliberately built toward international recognition rather than just the Italian licensing path. The curriculum aligns with USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 content; students take a preparatory IFOM test at the end of year four, and the university’s ACGME membership is cited as supporting later US degree recognition. From year four, students train daily at Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli, a 1,500-bed academic hospital with Joint Commission International certification and a place in global hospital rankings. For families seeking options beyond Italy and the UAE for studying medicine abroad, this US-oriented structure is Cattolica’s clearest differentiator. The MD is “abilitante,” meaning graduates can begin practising within the Italian health system immediately on completion.

UniCamillus: The Most International Campus of the Five

UniCamillus, formally Saint Camillus International University of Health and Medical Sciences, markets itself around its international student body, which it describes as the highest share of any medical university in Rome. Its mission centers on training physicians to address global health challenges, including conditions common in lower-resource countries, and it describes itself as secular and open to students of any faith. Admission for non-EU candidates abroad combines a written test with an oral examination in English for those who clear the written stage, a different structure from the single written test used elsewhere in this group. Merit and need-based scholarships are available to a limited number of students each year, with amounts set by each year’s call.

Campus Bio-Medico: A Smaller, Research-Integrated Cohort

Campus Bio-Medico runs one of the group's more tightly structured entrance exams: 60 questions split evenly across biology, chemistry, and physics, completed in 100 minutes, with a minimum score just to stay in the ranking. The university is known for smaller class sizes and a research culture that threads biomedical engineering through parts of the clinical curriculum, alongside its MedTech track for students who want that combination built into their degree. Admission requires an international English certificate at B2 level or higher, since the entrance test does not substitute for proof of English proficiency.

Admission Tests Compared

Even among these five private universities, the entrance tests differ enough in format and timing that each one deserves separate preparation, not a single generic “Italian medical school test.”

University	Test format	Duration	Typical test window	Test fee
Humanitas (HUMAT)	60 questions: scientific reasoning, biology/chemistry, maths/physics	120 minutes	Early and mid-March	Approx. EUR 200
San Raffaele (IMDP test)	60 questions: logic and reading comprehension, plus biology, chemistry, maths, physics	80 minutes	Early and late March (two sessions, best score counts)	Approx. EUR 200
Cattolica	Own written test (format set by yearly call)	Set by yearly call	Typically spring	Set by yearly call
UniCamillus	60 questions (EU track); written plus oral (non-EU abroad)	60 minutes (written stage)	Typically March	Approx. EUR 180
Campus Bio-Medico	60 questions: biology, chemistry, physics	100 minutes	Typically February	Approx. EUR 170

Most of these tests are sat from home with remote proctoring, which changes how a student should prepare compared with a test taken at a physical center. A stable internet connection, a quiet room, and a second device for the proctoring camera all need arranging in advance, and a full practice run under timed conditions is worth doing before the real sitting.

The Visa and Pre-Enrollment Steps UAE Families Need to Plan For

Getting an offer is only half the process. UAE applicants need to run a parallel administrative track alongside the academic one, and leaving it until after results come out is the most common cause of delay.

1. Get a Declaration of Value (DOV) or CIMEA comparability statement confirming the UAE secondary diploma is equivalent to an Italian one. This can take weeks, so start well before entrance test results are due.

2. Pre-enrol on Universitaly, Italy’s national portal for international applications, with a passport, photos, the diploma, transcripts, and the DOV or CIMEA statement.

3. Wait for university validation, where the chosen university checks the dossier and confirms it to the relevant Italian consulate.

4. Apply for a Type D national student visa at the Italian consulate covering the UAE, which requires the university’s confirmation alongside the visa application.

5. Show proof of funds, typically around EUR 10,000 for the year, which excludes tuition, housing, and flights, so budget and document those separately.

6. Apply for a Permesso di Soggiorno (residence permit) within eight days of arrival. This allows a student to legally stay, and later to work up to 20 hours a week during term.

Every family that decides to study medicine abroad needs to budget not just the tuition shown in the table above, but also the entire visa and documentation process, since consulate processing times can run into months during peak application season. Building in a buffer between the entrance test result and the planned start of term protects against a visa delay turning into a lost year.

Planning to Practice After Graduation

One question GuideMe hears from almost every UAE family is whether an Italian MD is recognized back home. The honest answer is that graduates planning to practise in the UAE still need the UAE’s degree-equivalency and licensing process, which commonly involves primary source verification and a licensing exam through the Gulf-wide Prometric system, regardless of where they earned their degree. None of the five universities above changes that requirement, though Cattolica’s USMLE alignment and ACGME membership are specifically designed to smooth a US-bound path instead. The practical takeaway: treat university choice as about teaching quality, hospital access, and fit now, and treat licensing as a separate process to plan closer to graduation.

How GuideMe Helps UAE Families Plan This Process

At GuideMe, the families we work with who choose to study medicine abroad in Italy usually need help with the same two things: picking the university that actually fits the student’s profile, rather than the one with the most recognizable name, and managing several entrance test timelines and a visa process at once without anything slipping. Our advisors track each university’s admission calls as they are published, help students prepare for each test's specific format, and walk families through the DOV, Universitaly, and visa steps in the order they need to happen. If you are planning a 2027 application and want a clearer sense of which university fits your profile, you are welcome to book a free consultation with our team.

Conclusion

Choosing to study medicine abroad is one of the biggest decisions a family can make, and Italy’s English-taught medical universities offer UAE students a practical path: a European MD, teaching hospitals attached to campus, and tuition well below comparable private programs elsewhere. Humanitas, San Raffaele, Cattolica, UniCamillus, and Campus Bio-Medico each take a different approach, from Humanitas’s hospital-network clerkships and MEDTEC track, to San Raffaele’s research-driven campus, Cattolica’s USMLE-aligned curriculum, UniCamillus’s international student body and global health focus, and Campus Bio-Medico’s smaller, research-integrated cohort. None of that removes the need for careful planning: entrance tests fall on different dates with different formats, and the visa track runs on its own timeline that has to start early. Getting both sides right, well before the 2027/28 calls are published, is what turns “thinking about it” into an actual seat in September 2027.

FAQs

Do I need to know Italian to study medicine in English at these universities?

Not for admission or classroom teaching, since all five programmes teach the pre-clinical years in English. Humanitas conducts clinical clerkships in Italian hospitals from year three, so you'll need some conversational Italian during the degree, even though it is not required to enrol.

Is the IMAT required for these five universities?

No. IMAT is the national test used by Italy’s public universities. Humanitas, San Raffaele, Cattolica, UniCamillus, and Campus Bio-Medico are private and set their own separate entrance exams.

Can I apply to more than one of these universities in the same year?

Yes. Each private university runs its own independent test and deadline, so a candidate can register for and sit several in the same admission cycle, which is one of the main advantages over the single-exam public system.

How much does it cost in total, including living expenses?

Tuition at the five universities above runs roughly EUR 18,000 to EUR 23,000 a year. The Italian visa process also requires proof of funds of around EUR 10,000 for the year, separate from tuition and excluding flights or a lease, so total planning should account for all three.

When should a UAE student applying for 2027 start preparing?

Since entrance tests for most of these universities fall between February and March, and visa paperwork can take months, most families should start researching universities and the DOV or CIMEA paperwork at least 9 to 12 months before the planned start date.

Does the Italian MD let graduates practise in the UAE automatically?

No. Regardless of where they earned their degree, UAE-bound graduates need the UAE’s degree equivalency and licensing process, which typically includes primary source verification and a licensing exam through the Gulf-wide Prometric system.