MBBS in University of Palermo School of Medicine and Surgery

Higher education in Palermo has roots stretching back to 1498, when courses in medicine and law were first taught in the city, and the Jesuits later ran a school awarding degrees in theology and philosophy from the second half of the sixteenth century at the Collegio Massimo al Cassero. After the Jesuits were expelled from the Kingdom of Sicily in 1767, their former premises became the Regia Accademia, and on 12 January 1806, King Ferdinand III of Bourbon formally elevated it into the Royal University of Studies, with the power to grant degrees in Theology, Medicine, Law and Arts.

Medicine has therefore been part of Palermo's academic life in one form or another for more than five centuries, even though the university itself only took its modern form in the early nineteenth century. That long, layered history places Palermo among the older centres of medical teaching in Sicily, alongside Messina and Catania, each shaping medical education across the island in slightly different ways.

Today's Scuola di Medicina e Chirurgia is based mainly at the Policlinico Universitario 'Paolo Giaccone', a large teaching hospital with more than fifty clinical departments led by faculty staff and a workforce of well over two thousand people. The hospital functions as both the primary site for hands-on clinical training and a major regional referral centre for Sicily, giving students exposure to a genuinely broad case mix.

The Corso di Laurea Magistrale a Ciclo Unico in Medicina e Chirurgia runs for six years and carries 360 ECTS credits, structured in the standard Italian pattern of a pre-clinical phase covering basic medical sciences followed by a clinical phase built around hospital-based teaching at the Policlinico and affiliated facilities.

It is important to be clear on one point: unlike Messina, Milano-Bicocca, the University of Milan, Padova or Naples Federico II, Palermo does not currently appear among Italy's IMAT-participating universities and does not run an English-medium Medicine and Surgery track. The course is taught entirely in Italian, which sets it apart from several other schools on this list that specifically built English-taught programmes for international applicants.

Admission runs through the Semestre Filtro (also called Semestre Aperto), the national reform introduced from the 2025/2026 academic year that replaced the older single entrance exam for Italian-medium medicine courses across the country. Applicants register freely for an open first semester of lectures and then sit standardised national exams in Biology, Chemistry and Physics; a national merit ranking based on those results decides who is confirmed into a place at Palermo, within the fixed annual quota set for the programme.

Because the entire course, from the filter-semester exams through to hospital ward rounds, is conducted in Italian, this programme realistically requires a genuinely functional command of the Italian language from the outset, generally expected to be at least B2 level, since Palermo currently offers no English-medium alternative to its Italian-taught Medicine and Surgery course.

Tuition fees follow Italy's income-banded model, generally averaging somewhere between roughly €2,000 and €5,000 per year depending on family income assessment, with the usual small fixed regional tax added on top, and no automatic fee reductions specifically for single-cycle degree courses like medicine beyond the standard ISEE-based bands. Sicily-based scholarships and grants administered through ERSU Sicilia can further reduce costs, including full tuition exemption and living stipends, for students who qualify on income and merit grounds.

Palermo is one of the more affordable major Italian cities to live in, with a Mediterranean climate, a rich Arab-Norman architectural heritage recognised by UNESCO, and a lively street food and market culture. Monthly living costs, including rent, food and transport, typically run lower than in mainland Italian cities of comparable size, making it an attractive option for students mindful of their budget over a six-year programme.

Indian students considering Palermo need to weigh the Italian-language requirement carefully against the university's affordability and historical depth. NEET remains necessary for eventual registration with India's National Medical Commission, and graduates hoping to return to India must clear NExT, the exam that has replaced the older FMGE screening test, regardless of which Italian university they attended. In summary, Palermo offers a genuinely old medical teaching tradition, a large and clinically active university hospital, and comparatively low living costs, at the price of an entirely Italian-language admissions and teaching process that requires strong language preparation well before applying.