MBBS In Pompeu Fabra University Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

The Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona is where medical students learn. It used to be called the Facultat de Ciències de la Salut i de la Vida. The school opened in 1990, and the medical degree program began in 2008–2009 as a joint effort between the school and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. You get a Grado en Medicina from both UAB and UPF. It's worth 360 ECTS credits and takes six academic years to complete. The present study plan starts in 2021.

A very small number of people are accepted each year. UPF has 64 spots for first-year students, and the UAB-UPF medical degree has an admissions mark above 13 on a 14-point scale in Catalan. This makes it one of the most competitive degrees in Spain. Over the six years, the total number of students stays close to 380. The way they teach is affected by the size of the class because seminars, lab work, and clinical sessions are run in small enough groups that each teacher knows every student's name.

The Mar campus is in the Barceloneta neighborhood, right next to Hospital del Mar, and that's where classes take place. The faculty, the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park, and shared laboratories are all on campus. This means that basic science research, hospital medicine, and teaching for first-year students all happen in the same block of streets by the water. It only takes minutes to get from a lecture hall to a study lab or a hospital ward, and the faculty makes good use of this.

Clinical training is based at Hospital del Mar. UPF and the hospital worked together to change the medical curriculum so that practical experience starts early in the program instead of waiting until the end. Students in their second year already go to supervised practice sessions, and internal medicine staff at the hospital teach at the university. Students also visit other public hospitals in Catalonia, such as Parc de Salut Mar, Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron, Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, and primary care centers integrated into the program.

The program is a mix of the Spanish national medical framework and UPF's own way of teaching integration and simulation. Basic sciences are taught along with patient care, not separately. Pathophysiology and diagnosis take up most of the middle years, and the last two years are spent doing guided clinical work all the time. The staff teaches using simulations, standardized patients and case-based learning, and assesses clinical competence through structured practical exams rather than written tests.

Languages matter here. The UAB says the joint medical degree will be taught in Catalan, Spanish and English. Catalan and Spanish are the main languages of instruction. English is used for some classes and scientific literature. They use the local languages for clinical placements because that's what the patients speak. It’s a degree that is taught in Catalan and Spanish and a little bit of English. As per FMGL 2021 all instruction and training must be in English for getting your NMC registered in India.

The research strength of the faculty is indicative. UPF is ranked 187 in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, and also has one of the best records of research per academic in Spain. Some of the fields that have groups at the medical school and the Barcelona Biomedical Research Park are genomics, systems biology, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, biomedical computing and clinical epidemiology. Undergrads join these groups to do the final project they have to do, and a lot of them publish or show their work before they graduate.

Fees are based on the price decree that the Generalitat de Catalunya sends out every year for all public universities in Catalonia. They are calculated per credit by the experimental level of the degree. There are two different prices for medical school. UPF says the first year costs 1,202.32 euros for students from the EU, and UAB says it costs 27.67 euros per credit. Non-EU students who don't live in Spain may have to pay more than the standard public rate. Check with the admissions office to make sure you know what category you fall into before you make your budget.

The real cost of school is driven by Barcelona. In the city, a room in a shared flat costs between 500 and 750 euros a month, and a place to live costs at least that much. Plan to spend about 7,200 euros a year on housing, food, transportation, and insurance. The metro and busses go all over the city, and student travel cards make them cheaper. The Mar site is also close enough to walk to both the beach and the center of Barcelona.

The Catalan pre-registration system is used to get people in. Applicants from the EU have to get a certain PAU score, and every year, the cut-off for the UAB-UPF medical degree is very close to the top of the national list. Applicants from outside the EU must first verify their credentials through UNEDasiss, then take the necessary subject tests, and then enter the same competitive round. According to UPF, there is no agency, whether public or private, responsible for student admissions and the application must be made through the official channels.

The student life at UPF revolves around a small, urban university with three buildings dotted around Barcelona. There are sports facilities, more than fifty student groups, a lively exchange program and language services that teach Spanish and Catalan at the university. Most of the time, medicine students are on the Mar campus. As there are only a few of them, they form a tight-knit year group that learns and moves around with each other for six years.

The degree is fully recognized by the government. It is recognized by the European Union under the professional recognition guidelines for physicians and registered by the Spanish Ministry in RUCT. It is also quality-verified by ANECA and by the Catalan agency AQU . You take the MIR national exam after graduation, and your score tells you both your specialty and the hospital where you will train. There is a lot of competition for the best specialties, and UPF graduates usually do well because the program has a lot of clinical work and teaches in small groups.

If you want to study medicine in a big European city and do a lot of research, this is the school for you. You can study in Catalan or Spanish, and there are 64 seats available. Do not choose it if you need a degree taught in English to get a license to work from home, because the language of instruction will not let you go that way, no matter how good the university is at teaching. Read the rules of your authority first, then make up your mind.