Medical studies in Mexico

Medical studies in Mexico and entrance conditions

Applicants must enter the university directly through the admission department in Mexico. Admission requirements for medical universities in Mexico vary, and the applicants may have to take an entrance exam or take a language proficiency test, depending on their conditions. Students must also take the MCAT or GPA exams after taking Premed courses at Mexican colleges. MCAT or GPA scores are not the only determining factors. However, medical universities consider a comprehensive approach to the admission process in the field of medicine to best examine the applicant. Medical universities usually first check a person’s profile and general condition. The Mexican university admission process is ongoing throughout the year, in which they review courses and admit students. Students can study twice a year, in January and July, in Mexican medical schools. The admissions committee at each university can request additional information from the applicant and also reject one’s admission at any stage of this process.

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Topics reviewed in this article:

• Medical universities in Mexico
• Required documents for studying medicine in Mexico
• Medical study costs in Mexico
• Other medical sciences in Mexico
• Obtaining a medical study visa in Mexico
• Work after graduation in Mexico

Medical universities in Mexico

We will discuss the most popular medical universities in Mexico here.

• UAG School of Medicine

It is one of the oldest universities in Mexico, which was established 84 years ago. More than 130,000 students have graduated from this university, 17,000 of whom are foreign physicians who are working successfully in many parts of the world.

• Department of Health Sciences, University of Quintana (DCS-UQROO)

It is a university in Chetumal, Mexico, which has medical, nursing, and pharmaceutical programs. It is the only university that simultaneously integrates three undergraduate courses in health sciences in southeastern Mexico. A significant number of students from Belize, South, and Central America study at this university because of its close location to other countries.

• Pan American University of Mexico (UP)

It is a private Catholic university located in Mexico City with schools of business, economics, engineering, humanities, law, and health sciences. The medical school is affiliated with several major hospitals in Mexico City, including Dalinde Hospital, where students typically practice internal medicine. This course is taught in Spanish.

• New Mexico University of Medical Sciences UNM

This university is in Downtown Rio Ranch and is consistently ranked among the top graduate schools in the United States. Generally, Health care professionals receive valuable training from all programs, including rural medicine and primary care. Students graduate in areas such as emergency medicine, dental health, occupational therapy, radiology, and rural medicine from UNM Medical School.

Required documents for studying medicine in Mexico

We will fully describe the documents required for admission to Mexican medical studies in this section. There are two stages of documentation when applying to medical schools:

• First stage
• Online registration of the desired school portal
• Pay the initial registration fee.
• Copy of birth certificate
• MCAT scores (taken during the last three years)
• Two to ten pages of written biography
• A letter of recommendation from the Forensic Medicine Committee or two letters from your college science professors (to the Admissions Committee)
• A full-size passport photo with a white background
• High school records, extracurricular activities, and awards
• Student background
• Second stage

This step only applies to those who have been invited for an interview.

• Original ID card
• The official high school version
• Copy of high school diploma
• Official college version (from any institution present)
• Official MCAT scores (taken in the last three years)

An admissions counselor guides students to legalize citizenship in countries other than the United States and Puerto Rico. The Admissions Committee has the right to request additional information from the applicant and reject one’s admission at any stage of the process.

Medical study costs in Mexico

Tuition at Mexican universities varies depending on the applicant’s field of study and one’s desired institution. Public universities in Mexico cost 378 to 818 dollars a year, while private institutions cost significantly more than 16,000 dollars a year. The annual tuition is divided between the fall and spring semesters. In the first- and second-year students pay 150 dollars per semester for student activities, which must be paid in full at the beginning of classes. Mexican medical tuition fees also vary for students in their academic years. You can get complete information from the table below:

Years of basic sciences:

Clinical Sciences Year 3:

Clinical Sciences Year 4:

Students can apply for a loan during their studies. One must complete all required donation documents and notify the grants office one month before the end of the semester for any new loans or adjustments to have the required reviews done.

Other medical sciences in Mexico

Medical education in Mexico is also possible in other fields such as pharmacy, dentistry, and nursing, which we will discuss in the following.

• Pharmacology

Pharmacy education includes an advanced scientific, technical, and health education course that trains pharmacists as health professionals who have a profound knowledge of the physical, chemical, and biological processes of therapeutic outcomes. This program takes eight semesters. Applicants for a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in Mexico must have completed high school in the country of origin and have a basic knowledge of biology, chemistry, physics, English, and arithmetic. Pharmacists can work in various fields such as government offices, care in pharmacy offices, hospital pharmacies, industry and distribution, health and public health analysis, and professional medicines.

• Dentistry

This program takes ten semesters in Mexico. The admission process for studies in this country is as follows:

• Register in the admission portal
• Answer the online psychometric test
• Present the result of the university exam
• Go through the university registration process.

The applicant could pay the university’s fees and enter the university if one had been accepted.

• Nursing

The nursing course in Mexico has three stages:

• The introductory course called “Principles of Nursing Care” in the first and second semesters
• The second course is “The role of care in the human life cycle” in the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth semesters in which seminars will be held

The professional course “Collective Health Care” in the seventh and eighth semesters

Obtaining a medical study visa in Mexico

The applicants can even enroll in the courses of their choice as a tourist if that course is for less than six months but if it is for more than six months, one must apply for a student visa separately through the Mexican embassy or consulate in their home country. The applicant must be formally admitted to a course at a Mexican university. Therefore, one can apply for a Mexican medical study visa by being admitted to a college in Mexico.

The applicants must provide the following documents to obtain a Mexican student visa:

• A valid passport, which must be valid for more than six months from the time of residence in Mexico
• Admission form to Mexican universities
• Proof of financial viability: 300 dollars per month of residence
• Proof of intention to return to the country of origin after completing the course of study.

The cost of a student visa varies, but it is typically between 18 and 30 dollars. The student visa will only be valid for 30 days in Mexico, during which one must apply for a residence permit by the National Registry of Foreign Citizens. This permit will be valid for up to one year and will allow one to enter the country several times. If the applicant plans to study in Mexico on a tourist visa, one will not be eligible for an internship.

Work after graduation in Mexico

Mexico has a developing economy that is heavily dependent on the US economy. The Mexican economy is one of the most influential economies in Latin America and has grown rapidly since the 1970s. In Mexican medical education, the Spanish curriculum is gradually integrated into student courses. For example, problem-based learning is in English, and clinical classes are in Spanish. Medical students in Mexico can study in the United States for two years after completing the first four semesters. Students can also spend one year in Mexico and one year in the United States to complete their internship and receive their degree. These will have a significant impact on students’ employment after graduation. Besides, Mexican universities prepare students for the USMLE during their studies. In addition to the above, one of the most critical indicators for working after studying medicine in Mexico is the unemployment rate of this country, which was less than 4% in 2019.

Medical schools in Mexico offer services for students’ employment after graduation:

• Career development workshops
• One-on-one career counseling
• Coaching courses
• Advertising processes
• Employment in the faculty