Study MBBS in Italy

Pre-enrol on the Universitaly portal and name the one university you want, because non-EU candidates living abroad compete only in the ranking of that university. From 2026/27 each university can validate pre-enrolments only up to its non-EU places plus 20%, so apply early once the portal opens. Then register for the IMAT on Universitaly (for 2026/27 this ran from 26 August to 9 September 2026) and choose India as your test country. Alongside this, arrange a CIMEA statement of comparability or a Declaration of Value for your Class 12 certificate, and gather your passport, NEET result and English certificate. Weigh the non-EU quota against the fee: Pavia has 40 non-EU places at about €596 a year, while Sapienza has 13 at about €456, so the cheapest university is not always the best bet.

The IMAT has 60 multiple-choice questions in 100 minutes, marked plus 1.5 for a correct answer, minus 0.4 for a wrong one and zero for a blank, to a maximum of 90. Because wrong answers cost marks, guess only when you can rule out some options. Biology carries the most weight with 23 questions, then chemistry with 15 and physics and mathematics with 13, plus 9 on reading and logical reasoning. For non-EU candidates living abroad any score above zero qualifies, and places then go in rank order. Humanitas University runs its own online test instead: for 2026/27 it was held in two rounds in March 2026, taken from home, with 60 questions in 120 minutes.

Once you place in your chosen university's ranking, enrol and pay. At public universities the first payment is small, for example €146 at Milan or €157.04 at Bologna, with the rest in later instalments. Apply for the study visa at the Italian consulate, showing at least €10,179.85 a year (about ₹10.8 lakh, at about ₹106 to the euro, October 2026) from traceable personal or close-family funds, and proof of accommodation in Italy. After arriving, apply for the permesso di soggiorno, the residence permit. If you plan to apply for the means-tested borsa di studio, register with the regional student agency in the same cycle. Classes begin in the autumn.

Italy is unusual here, and in a good way. Since a 2020 law (Decree-Law 18 of 17 March 2020, Article 102), the six-year degree in Medicine and Surgery, with its practical training completed, is itself the licence to practise as a doctor in Italy. There is no separate state exam after graduation. The qualification is also listed for Italy in Annex V, point 5.1.1 of EU Directive 2005/36/EC.

To practise in India, a foreign graduate must pass the FMGE, the screening exam run by NBEMS, which remains the route today (FMGE, with NExT deferred and not in force). Before that, the degree must meet the NMC Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations 2021, which ask for a separate internship of at least twelve months after the course, in the same foreign institution. The Italian degree includes only three months of practical training inside the course, so it does not meet this rule and is not NMC compliant. So Italy is the right fit for students planning a career in Italy, elsewhere in the EU, in the UK or through the USMLE, rather than in India. Very few Italian graduates have sat the FMGE: NBEMS reports list one candidate in 2021, two in 2024 and one in June 2025, far too few to give a pass rate.

EU rules on automatic recognition of medical degrees apply to EU nationals, so an Indian national with an Italian degree does not gain an automatic right to work in another EU country. Practising in Italy itself is straightforward: the degree carries the licence, and the graduate registers with the Ordine dei Medici, the provincial medical council. Moving on to another EU country runs through that country's own process for non-EU graduates, or through EU long-term residence after several years in Italy.

Schools whose WDOMS entry carries an ECFMG sponsor note let students and graduates apply for ECFMG Certification and take the USMLE, the route to residency in the United States. For the United Kingdom, the General Medical Council lists the Laurea in Medicina e Chirurgia issued by an Italian university as a relevant European qualification, so graduates apply to the GMC directly, without PLAB, along with evidence of English such as IELTS or OET; the route depends on where you qualified, not your nationality. The degree alone supports provisional registration for UK Foundation Year 1. For full registration the GMC also lists the Diploma di abilitazione, which Italy stopped issuing in March 2020, so graduates since then send the alternative evidence the GMC asks for. In Italy, specialist training at a scuola di specializzazione is entered through a national competitive exam (concorso), is paid, and usually lasts four to five years depending on the specialty.