Studying Medicine in Rome
Rome is one of the best places in Europe to study medicine in English. Few capitals concentrate as many English-taught medical programmes in one city, and behind them sits a teaching tradition that is more than seven centuries old. If Rome is on your shortlist, here is how to get your bearings.
The universities
Rome gives you more choice than almost anywhere else in Italy. La Sapienza teaches medicine around the Policlinico Umberto I and the Sant'Andrea hospital; Tor Vergata runs a well-established English-language track; the Università Cattolica trains its students at the Policlinico Gemelli, one of the country's leading teaching hospitals; and the Campus Bio-Medico adds a strong technology-focused programme. Alongside them is UniCamillus, a university recognised by the Ministry in 2017 and built from the ground up for international students, with more than 5,000 enrolled across its medical and health-science courses. Together, the city's English-taught medical programmes offer several hundred places each year.
A tradition that attracts talent from afar
Rome has been teaching medicine since Pope Boniface VIII founded the Studium Urbis in 1303, and its school has always drawn talent from elsewhere as much as it has produced it. Among the names who passed through its lecture halls are Maria Montessori, one of the first women to graduate in medicine in Italy, and Daniel Bovet, the Swiss-born winner of the 1957 Nobel Prize in Medicine who became one of the fathers of Italian pharmacology while working in Rome. Today's international students are a natural continuation of that story.
A magnet for international students
Rome's medical faculties draw applicants from across the world. Many come from countries with a tough domestic cap on medical places, and Israel is one of the clearest cases: with roughly six in ten Israeli doctors trained abroad and one of the most selective internal numerus clausus systems anywhere, Italy has become a leading destination, and Rome one of the most chosen cities. Israeli students studying medicine in Rome are today a settled and visible part of the international community here.
Student life and getting around
Rome rewards the years you spend in it: history, food and social life on your doorstep, and neighbourhoods that cluster around the clinical hubs where you will actually study. Budget for around 600 euros a month for a single room, a little more in the most central districts, and start your search early, because demand peaks sharply in September when the new academic year begins.
Getting started
Pick your university, prepare for the IMAT, and lock down your housing before the autumn rush. Arriving in Rome with a room already sorted is the single thing that will make your first month here calmer.
Moving to Rome to study?
Find a verified room near your faculty, with clear contracts and no surprises: Get started with Acadomus →