MBBS in University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Faculty of Medicine and Surgery

The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia traces its origins back to around 1175, when the jurist Pillio da Medicina was invited from Bologna to open a school of legal education in Modena. Over the following two centuries the Studium broadened well beyond law, adding the training of notaries and, importantly for this page, the study of medicine, making it one of the oldest universities in Europe, behind only Bologna and Paris. Medicine has been taught in Modena since close to the university's founding, with the discipline's roots in the city stretching back to the 1300s.

One of the university's most notable figures in medicine is Bernardino Ramazzini, who held a professorship there between 1682 and 1700 and is remembered internationally as the father of occupational medicine, having written the first systematic treatise on diseases linked to specific trades. That legacy still shapes something of the university's identity in medical and public health circles today.

In 1998, the University of Modena merged with the University of Reggio Emilia to create the current bi-campus institution, generally known as Unimore. Medical teaching today is spread across two main hospital sites: the Nuovo Ospedale Civile Sant'Agostino-Estense in Baggiovara, near Modena, and the Arcispedale Santa Maria Nuova in Reggio Emilia, both of which integrate patient care with student training and clinical research.

It is important to be clear about one point that differs from several other Italian medical schools: Unimore's Corso di Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico in Medicina e Chirurgia is taught entirely in Italian. Unlike Messina, Milano-Bicocca or the University of Milan, Modena does not currently run a parallel English-medium track for Medicine and Surgery, and it does not use the IMAT admissions test that is standard for Italy's English-taught medical programmes.

Admission instead runs through the TOLC-MED, an Italian-language standardised test administered by CISIA, the same national testing consortium used for several other limited-enrolment Italian degree programmes. Candidates register separately with CISIA to sit the TOLC-MED and then apply to Unimore itself, and places are allocated by ranking on that test, within a fixed quota (numero chiuso) set for each academic year, alongside a much smaller allocation for non-EU applicants.

Because the entire programme, from lectures to hospital ward rounds, from textbooks to the entrance exam itself, is conducted in Italian, this course realistically requires strong, functional Italian language ability from day one. That makes it a meaningfully different proposition for Indian or other non-Italian-speaking applicants compared with the English-taught, IMAT-based programmes offered by many other Italian universities, and it should be weighed carefully before applying.

Fees for EU and non-EU students alike follow Italy's income-banded model, generally landing in a broadly similar range to other Italian public universities, typically a few hundred euros at the lowest income band up to roughly €3,000 to €4,000 per year at the top band, alongside a small fixed regional tax. Modena and Reggio Emilia are both considerably cheaper to live in than Milan or Rome, with monthly living costs, including rent, food and transport, generally running around €700 to €1,000.

Modena itself is a mid-sized city in Emilia-Romagna, well known internationally for its cuisine, balsamic vinegar production, and as the historic home of Ferrari and several other Italian car manufacturers. It offers a comfortable, walkable university-town atmosphere, with good rail connections to Bologna and the rest of the region, though it has a much smaller international community than Italy's larger cities.

For Indian students who are fluent in Italian, or willing to commit to reaching that level before enrolling, Unimore's medical degree still leads to full recognition. NEET remains necessary for eventual registration with India's National Medical Commission, and graduates who want to return to India must clear NExT, the exam that has replaced the older FMGE screening test for foreign medical graduates, regardless of which Italian university they attended.

The medical school and its degree are listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools, and the programme is accredited by the Italian Ministry of University and Research, giving graduates a degree that is automatically recognised across the European Union under EU mutual recognition rules and independently verifiable by regulatory bodies internationally, on the same basis as Italy's English-taught medical programmes.

In summary, Unimore offers a genuinely ancient medical teaching tradition, integrated with two well-equipped regional teaching hospitals, at a comparatively low cost of living. The key difference from several other schools on this list is that the entire course is delivered in Italian through the TOLC-MED entrance route rather than English through the IMAT, which makes it a realistic option mainly for applicants who already have, or are prepared to build, strong Italian language skills well before enrolling.