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Which University Was The First To Introduce Medical Education?

Pratyasha Chaturvedi
Dec 29, 2025, 21:46 IST

It took years of observation, training, and organised education for medicine to become a recognised field. Out of all the old universities, there is one university that was the first to formally teach medicine as a subject. This article discusses how this university made medicine a disciplined science, why it was important on a worldwide scale, and how its legacy influenced modern medical schools.

Which University Was The First To Introduce Medical Education? (Image Source:- Official Website of the University of Bologna)
Which University Was The First To Introduce Medical Education? (Image Source:- Official Website of the University of Bologna)

It may seem clear to today’s students that medicine belongs in universities, particularly those preparing for NEET, MBBS, or pursuing life sciences. Clinical Rotations, degrees, lecture halls, and anatomy labs all seem like classic aspects of medical school. However, medicine was not taught in a formal academic setting for thousands of years, even though it existed before any institutions or universities formally introduced it as an academic discipline.

Early medical professionals depended on the following methods:-

  • Doctrines of Religion

  • Trial and error methods

  • Oral Customs

  • Master-training interactions

Exams, institutional responsibility and degrees were nonexistent during this period. This brings us to an important question regarding the history of medicine, i.e.,
When was medicine recognised as a profession and taught as a formal discipline in a university?

Which University Was the First to Introduce Medical Education?

In academic history, the University of Bologna holds a special and unparalleled reputation. Although medical knowledge existed in ancient cultures, the University of Bologna was the first university to incorporate medicine as an academic discipline. This is an important distinction.

The University of Bologna formalised, rather than just teaching and healing. Although there were ancient customs, the University of Bologna (Italy), which was established in 1088 and began teaching anatomy and observation throughout Europe around 1200 AD, is generally acknowledged as the oldest institution to offer official, systematic medical education.

Given below is the timeline of how medical education was formalised by the University of Bologna:-

  • Establishment:- The University of Bologna was founded in 1088 AD as an impromptu, private, secular organisation of academics and students that employed scholars to teach them, mostly in the field of law.

  • Faculties Developed:-The liberal arts faculties of philosophy and medicine were founded at the beginning of the 13th century, around 1200 AD, as distinct departments from the primary legal program.

  • Development of Medicine:- During the 13th Century, he medical faculty became well-known for bringing the practice of human dissection, which at the time was a major invention in Europe.  

Healing became a scientific profession when the University of Bologna became the first academic institution to teach medicine. Every modern medical college, from Europe to India, continues to carry on its legacy.

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