Higher Education Guidance & Counselling

10 Free Medical Schools to Study Medicine for Free in 2023

You might have heard about colleges without tuition fees in certain countries, and the first thing that comes to your mind is whether that is true. The Medicine field is a costly one among all the medical universities in the world. So, what exactly are your options if you don’t have deep pockets and don’t want to take a huge loan?

Luckily, there are several universities in different countries that offer tuition-free education. You can find universities offering medicine training in countries like Germany and other Scandinavian countries like Norway and Sweden

Despite not charging local students for tuition fees, some medical universities charge international students for it in all fields. Medical education is one of the few fields responsible for the accumulation of student debts globally. Considering the expenses involved, you are likely going to pay a fortune from starting it to specialization. 

If you don’t want to get involved in a student loan that will take a lot of time to pay off, you can pursue your studies in a tuition-free university for medical education. However, before considering this tuition-less schools, there is an important thing that you need to remember.

To get free education, you would have to excel in the field, requiring high grades. You can show this by getting a high GPA and MCAT score. So, you can only take up the opportunity if you are excellent in your studies and there aren’t many ways around it. You would efficiently require a high MCAT score, GPA, Shadowing experience if possible, and Recommendation letters.

Top 10 Free Medicine Universities for Admissions in 2023

Here are the top 10 free medical schools across the globe:

#1 New York University School of Medicine

New York University School of Medicine is a division of New York University and it is situated in Manhattan, New York. Whereas, its medical school traces its origins back towards the early 19th century. It is a well-renowned institute across all parts of the US. 

Apart from the Standard MD program, the New York University School of Medicine offers various other joint degrees Master’s programs combined with the initial program (which forms the dual five-year extended program), a significant feature of the university. It includes:-

  • Bioethics
  • Health policy
  • General management

The NYU medical school also offers the MD/Ph.D. programs. The university currently has around 700 MD students and 400 students pursuing Ph.D. and joint degree programs. The acceptance rate is around 1% for its MD program as it’s a highly selective institute. The school is among the first few in the US to introduce the idea of full-tuition scholarships.

#2 University of Bergen Norway

The UOB is located in Bergen, Norway, and it’s an excellent public university. The UOB faculty of medicine operates on a no-tuition basis equal for both local and international students. It does not charge anything apart from some minor administrative charges, which students can easily afford

This medical school has several study departments including:-

  • Biomedicine
  • Dentistry
  • Clinical medicine
  • Public and international health studies

The university is well-known for maintaining quality standards despite being a free university. It is an ideal opportunity for students to get their desired medical qualification degree.

#3 Washington University School of Medicine

The Washington University School of Medicine connects to Washington University in St. Louis, located in Missouri. The university is pretty famous for its medical program, and apart from it, it also offers MD/joint programs and the standard Medicine/ MD program. 

The university also offers MD/Ph.D. programs for the students as well. Apart from the regular courses, it offers particular Audiology and Speech Therapy programs and the unique Doctor of Audiology (Au.D) program. The university maintains high education standards in the US and is one of the best in the world. It maintains exceptional standards as it intends to suspend tuition fees and award full-tuition scholarships for students who qualify.

#4 Umea University Faculty of Medicine

The Umea University Faculty of Medicine is located in Sweden, and the school is widely known for its high-quality education. The Umea university school of medicine has a reputation for quality academics, clinical focus, and research.

The study program is also flexible, which means attending classes while also keeping up with other aspects. Furthermore, besides providing theoretical knowledge, the university also provides clinical exposure and engages its students in various research programs. International students also get access to a wide range of master’s programs to learn in English.

#5 University of Munster Faculty of Health Science

The University Of Munster Faculty Of Health Science in Germany is another institute that provides students with an opportunity to pursue medical studies without indulging in high costs. The students get access to over 120 fields when enrolled in the university across fifteen different academic divisions. 

It is a large university, and it is also a well-known intellectual hub in Europe. It offers many fields, and you can get an education in English and German, which is the primary instruction language. However, the most notable degree that it offers is in the medical field and dentistry. The university also allows the students to follow practical training courses in a particular field.

#6 Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine

The Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine is located in Ohio and is a private university that provides exceptional quality education.  The university ranks amongst the top 25 medical schools in the US. It is also one of the first medical schools in the country that offers a Ph.D. /MD before introducing the medical scientist training program. The course in the university lasts in a five-year-long curriculum and a semester structure. 

All the enrolled students get a complete tuition scholarship, making the university a free medical school. However, the university focuses on recruiting the most dedicated students, and thus it selects them based on the highest MCAT marks and GPA scores.

#7 University of Oslo School of Medicine

The University of Oslo is located in Norway, and it’s one of the oldest institutes in the country. The school contains 8 study schools including several departments that cover a lot of subjects and fields. The Oslo School of medicine is a member of these study schools.

The academic outline of the faculty contains the following:-

  • Institute of Basic medical sciences
  • Institute of Health and Society
  • Institute of Clinical Medicine

While it also has a research facility called Centers of Excellence that mainly emphasis on:-

  • Immune regulation
  • Mental disorders
  • Cancer biomedicines

You can also get other types of courses apart from the standard medicine program. The undergraduate educational programs are in the Norwegian language, although they do require a high language standard.

#8 Medical University of Vienna

A public institute, the Medical University of Vienna, is for higher education in the capital city of Austria, Vienna. The institute is one of the oldest in the world, providing medical education to students. The university offers extraordinary academic experience along with research expertise. It’s also a part of the top 15 medical schools across Europe, and it ranks in the top 50 institutes around the world.  

Students who wish to apply need to remember that it’s highly competitive and needs to complete MedAT (special Austrian medical school admission) and evidence stating that the student has German knowledge and other particular tests.

#9 Heidelberg University School of Medicine

The Heidelberg University School of Medicine is located in Heidelberg (Southwestern Germany). The university offers several programs. All the courses provide high-quality theoretical instructions while also providing students with various opportunities to build on practical knowledge.  

The main language is German; however, there are numerous courses that the students can learn in English and French. The university offers 12 schools, and the school of medicine is one of them. The university’s program lasted two years of basic training and then four years of clinical experience and the final stage of the German medical licensing program. However, it later changed to adapt to the Harvard medical school course. It’s a prestigious medical institute that offers programs without tuition fees.

#10 King Saudi University College of Medicine

The King Saudi University College of Medicine in Riyadh and it’s the first university in Saudi Arabia. It offers multiple courses without any tuition fees. The King Saudi College of Medicine, combined with King Abdul-Azziz University Hospital, offers free medical school training.

Overall the quality of education in the institute is excellent, and it allows the students to increase their knowledge over theoretical scientific knowledge and get some practical experience.

Yousaf Saeed

I'm Dr. Engr. Yousaf Saeed, founder of the AScholarship Education Portal. My academic path includes 3 prestigious international scholarships — Australia Awards, CSC, and HKPFS — for my higher studies. I am also an IChemE affiliate whereas I've also worked for companies like Aramco and BYCO oil refinery as an production engineer at the start of my career. I completed MS, and PhD with major research publications in leading SCI journals (details on my Researchgate Profile). This aScholarship.com reflects my commitment to educating and therefore i started it for the purpose to guide aspiring international students for find scholarships for their higher education dream. As an experienced educator and mentor, I specialize in navigating the intricacies of research and patent and write useful articles on these topics too.