Asia International University (AIU) is a prestigious university among medical colleges in Uzbekistan; it is located in Bukhara, the city declared a UNESCO World Heritage site owing to its rich cultural and intellectual past as an ancient centre of knowledge and learning, where some of history’s greatest scholars, like Avicenna and al-Khwarizmi, lived and worked. Being inspired by this great city and its intellectual heritage, AIU established itself as a unique institution dedicated to reviving Bukhara’s reputation as a city that is a centre of knowledge, but this time not for science and learning, but for higher education and medicine.
AIU ranks among the largest universities in Uzbekistan, with more than 23,000 students studying across five contemporary campuses. AIU's Faculty of Medicine is a leading educational unit within the university, providing students from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and many other African and Asian nations with a highly advanced and internationally recognised MBBS-equivalent medical course. AIU runs its own three teaching hospitals while being affiliated with 19 more hospitals and 44 associated hospital centres in the Bukhara region and beyond. Thus, the university has established a highly impressive clinical setup, ensuring that each of its medical students receives ample patient exposure during their studies.
The university is designed according to the highest international standards. Its five modern campuses provide all the necessary lecture rooms, laboratories, simulation centres, and digital libraries regarded as among the best in the country, which include books by Indian writers, as well as clean on-campus accommodation units in the form of hostels for boys and girls. Moreover, a special group of Indian faculty members provides free-of-cost FMGE/NExT training to all Indian and international students of the university.
The Faculty of Medicine at AIU provides education entirely in English and is designed to ensure that students, both from India and around the world, face no language barriers in their academic or clinical studies. The curriculum, as designed by the university, comprises 5.5 years of academic study, including 4.5 years of coursework and 1 year of clinical internship. AIU is recognised by the NMC in India, WHO, ECFMG, as well as the Medical Councils of Nepal, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, giving its graduates a universally recognised MBBS degree for licensure examination and access to practice as a physician in many countries, including (but not limited to) India through the FMGE/NExT, the US through the USMLE and the UK through the PLAB.
For Indian students, attending AIU in Bukhara, Uzbekistan, offers the perfect MBBS experience studying abroad. The option to eat Indian food is available at the hostel mess; there is a large and active population of Indian students creating a culturally familiar environment from day one; and AIU offers an administrative support team to assist students in obtaining a visa, obtaining documentation required by the university, opening a bank account, and participating in orientation upon arrival at the university. Bukhara, the city where AIU is located, is calm, safe, and affordable, with a rich cultural heritage, making it the ideal place to study medicine for 6 years. Bukhara has a continental climate, many UNESCO-recognised monuments, and a friendly, close-knit community, making it one of the most livable and unique study-abroad destinations in Central Asia.
