Humanitas MEDTEC vs Campus Bio-Medico MedTech: which medicine and engineering programme?

The table puts the two programmes on the same rows. Figures are for 2026/27, the latest year both universities have published; neither has published its 2027/28 call yet.

Both programmes are one medical degree (LM-41) that qualifies you as a doctor, and both let you add a Bachelor's in Biomedical Engineering for 30 credits beyond the 360. The difference is who awards it. At Humanitas the engineering degree comes from Politecnico di Milano, which teaches the first semester of each of the first three years on its own campus and approves the 30-credit path; Politecnico awards its Bachelor's straight after Humanitas awards the MD. At Campus Bio-Medico the extra 30 credits are taught within UCBM's own degree in Biomedical Engineering.

So MEDTEC is built around two universities and two campuses for its first three years, while MedTech stays on one campus in Rome throughout.

Both put mathematics and physics into the first year, and both pair clinical subjects with the technology they use. MEDTEC's first three years carry a full block of engineering courses taught at Politecnico (Basics of Circuit Theory, Automation and Mechatronics, Biomedical Electronics and Instrumentation, Biomechanics and Thermodynamics, Biocompatibility and Biomaterials, Machine Learning and AI) and at least one engineering course in every later year. MedTech builds the base with Mathematics, General Physics, Computer Science and Probability and Statistics, then Signal and Imaging Processing, Biomechatronics, Biomaterials and Telemedicine, and AI and Data Mining, with six optional engineering courses alongside.

The tests are different papers. The HUMAT is 60 questions in 120 minutes in three timed sections: Scientific Thinking and Academic Literacy (reasoning and reading in English), Biology and Chemistry, and Mathematics and Physics. A wrong answer costs a quarter of a correct one, and every section has a minimum. For MEDTEC the Mathematics and Physics section is worth the most, 22 points a question against 10 for the reasoning section.

The UCBM test is 60 questions in 100 minutes on Biology, Chemistry and Physics only, 20 each, with no reasoning, reading or mathematics section. A wrong answer costs 0.2 and you need 12/60 to be ranked; ties go to Biology, then Chemistry.

Preparing for both is realistic: the sciences overlap, and in 2026 UCBM's test came first (19 February) and the HUMAT rounds followed in March. Drill Biology, Chemistry and Physics to UCBM's syllabus first, then add the HUMAT's mathematics and its reasoning and reading sections for the March rounds. For MEDTEC, time spent on Mathematics and Physics pays most.

Humanitas charges by family income and assets: EU students pay €10,206, €15,206, €19,206 or €23,206 a year according to Humanitas's ISEP index, and non-EU students €23,206. Campus Bio-Medico charges a flat €19,000 for the first year, plus €140 regional tax, whatever the income. So MEDTEC is cheaper for EU families in the two lower bands and dearer in the top one.

Both reward rank. Humanitas offers merit waivers to the top of each MEDTEC list (a full Fondazione Rocca scholarship and partial ones down to €5,206 for EU students, two of €18,000 a year for non-EU students). UCBM gives a 50% fee exemption for six years to the first winner of the MedTech ranking with an ISEE of €28,000 or less, and a total exemption to students eligible for the Lazio region's DiscoLazio scholarship, within the funds available.

MEDTEC suits a candidate who wants a degree from Politecnico di Milano alongside the MD, is happy to move between two campuses in the first three years, and is strongest in mathematics and physics, which its ranking weighs most. Its income-based fees favour EU families with a lower ISEP.

MedTech suits a candidate who wants one campus in Rome and a science-only admission test, and who is stronger in Biology and Chemistry than in reasoning or mathematics under time pressure. With the same test as UCBM's Medicine and Surgery, registering for both of UCBM's English degrees gives two rankings for one sitting.

Many candidates will not have to choose before the results: the 2026 tests fell on different dates, so sitting both kept both open.

The University of Padua runs Medicine and Surgery – MedTech, in English, in Padua: six years and 360 credits, with extra credits for an additional degree in Biomedical Engineering or in Biology of Human and Environmental Health. It is a public university with its own admission route, not covered here.

Università Cattolica runs Medicina e chirurgia a indirizzo tecnologico (Medtec) in Rome with Roma Tre University: six years, 390 credits, 80 places, taught in Italian, at Cattolica's Rome campus, the Policlinico Gemelli and Roma Tre's engineering department.