Kunming Medical University

Kunming Medical University traces its origins to the specialized medical program at Provincial Donglu University, established in 1933. It became an independent medical college in 1956, joined the country’s first group of institutions authorized to award master’s degrees in 1981, and became authorized to award doctoral degrees in 1998. Yunnan Medical College was incorporated into it in 2010, and it was renamed Kunming Medical University in 2012. It was among the first institutions in the national Central and Western China Higher Education Basic Capacity Building Project, and is a provincial key university and a Yunnan Double First-Class development university. Over more than 90 years, its more than 100000 full-time and 100000 part-time highly qualified medical and health graduates have made exceptional contributions to health services, economic and social development, ethnic unity and progress, and border prosperity and stability in Yunnan and surrounding areas.

The university has 3 campuses: Chenggong (the main campus), Renmin West Road and Pingzheng, covering 1480 mu. It has 23730 full-time students, including 16579 undergraduates, 5791 master’s students, 829 doctoral students and 762 international students. It also has 32535 students in adult undergraduate and junior college programs. Over years of development, it has established a complete medical education system encompassing full-time higher medical education at bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral levels, postgraduate professional education, continuing medical education and international student education. It has 6236 established staff posts filled, with 1652 at the university itself and 4584 at its directly affiliated hospitals. Its staff include 1 nationally appointed distinguished professor, 2 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 1 nationally distinguished physician, 3 recipients of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, 1 national young talent program recipient, 1 young or middle-aged leading talent in scientific and technological innovation under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Innovative Talent Promotion Program, 7 national Hundred-Thousand-Ten Thousand Talent Project recipients, 4 Ministry of Education New Century Excellent Talent Support Program recipients, 6 national young and middle-aged experts with outstanding contributions, 90 experts receiving special allowances from the State Council, 1 National Model of Teaching and Education, 14 National Outstanding Teachers or Outstanding Education Workers, 2 recipients of Yunnan’s Xingdian Talent Award, and 1 Yunnan leading science and technology talent. Its staff have received 956 selections for other provincial talent programs.

The university has 5 first-level disciplines authorized to award doctoral degrees, 2 professional doctoral degree authorization fields, 8 first-level disciplines authorized to award master’s degrees, and 7 professional master’s degree authorization fields. It has 5 postdoctoral research stations in Clinical Medicine, Basic Medicine, Pharmacy, Stomatology, and Public Health and Preventive Medicine. 7 disciplines rank in the global ESI top 1%: Clinical Medicine, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience and Behavior, Biology and Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Psychiatry and Psychology, and Social Sciences, General. Clinical Medicine ranks in the ESI global top 1.78‰ and Pharmacology and Toxicology in the top 5‰.

The university has 18 schools and departments and 36 undergraduate programs. It has 10 national first-class programs, 4 nationally distinctive programs, 1 national experimental teaching demonstration center, 1 national clinical teaching and training demonstration center, 19 national first-class courses and 3 national course projects. It has 6 provincial first-class disciplines, 6 provincial first-class programs, 47 provincial first-class courses and 8 provincial teaching teams. Stomatology, Pharmacy, Clinical Medicine and Nursing, 4 programs, have passed the relevant Ministry of Education professional accreditation. Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and Prosthetics and Orthotics Engineering, 3 programs, have passed international accreditation. The university strengthens coordinated innovation across medical care, education and research and focuses on developing high-level affiliated hospitals. It has established a comprehensive practical teaching network comprising 4 directly affiliated hospitals, 1 hospital jointly established with local authorities, 11 non-directly affiliated hospitals, 27 teaching hospitals, 45 internship hospitals, 21 community practical teaching bases and 137 practical teaching bases for related programs, fully meeting students’ practical learning needs.

The university has received 7 national science and technology awards, 17 ministry or commission science and technology awards, and 1 Ho Leung Ho Lee Science and Technology Innovation Award. Since the start of the 14th Five-Year Plan, it has received 6 first prizes, 16 second prizes and 53 third prizes in provincial science and technology awards. It has led 2 National Key Research and Development Program projects, undertaken 7 key-supported National Natural Science Foundation projects and 950 other national natural science foundation research projects, placing it among the province’s top three. It has undertaken 8 national philosophy and social sciences foundation projects, 1 Ministry of Education major research project in philosophy and social sciences, and over 2700 provincial projects. Average annual research funding is RMB 160 million. It has 1 Ministry of Education innovation team, 43 provincial innovation teams and 3 provincial philosophy and social sciences innovation teams. It has 1 Ministry of Education international joint laboratory, 1 National Health Commission key laboratory, 1 Ministry of Education collaborative innovation center jointly supported by a province and ministry, 3 nationally registered stem cell clinical institutions, 1 nationally registered stem cell clinical research project, 2 institutions with national qualification certification and accreditation, 13 provincial key laboratories, 142 provincial clinical medical research centers, technology research centers, bases and similar platforms, 64 other provincial or departmental science and technology innovation platforms, and 99 academician and expert workstations. The Journal of Kunming Medical University is a national core science and technology journal.

The university’s directly affiliated hospitals have become Yunnan’s largest medical center and center for the diagnosis and treatment of difficult, critical and severe illnesses. The First Affiliated Hospital of Kunming Medical University is the province’s strongest large comprehensive hospital. The Second Affiliated Hospital is a large comprehensive hospital with distinctive disciplinary strengths and also bears the names Yunnan Provincial Urology Hospital and Yunnan Provincial Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Hospital. The Third Affiliated Hospital is a designated institution for developing a national regional cancer medical center. The Affiliated Stomatological Hospital is Yunnan’s only Grade III specialist dental hospital and its center for dental education, research, clinical care and preventive health.

The university is actively developing comprehensive, wide-ranging and multilevel openness in education. It has established stable exchange and cooperative relationships with over 90 universities and research institutions in more than 30 countries and in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. It is one of 4 institutions in China offering medical education in French. It initiated the South and Southeast Asian Medical Education and Service Alliance, comprising 56 educational and medical institutions from China and 13 countries in South and Southeast Asia. The alliance has become an important platform for exchange and cooperation in medical education and healthcare between China, Yunnan, and South and Southeast Asia. The university runs a joint undergraduate nursing program with Mahidol University in Thailand. Its international students come from 61 countries. It was the first university in Yunnan approved by the Ministry of Education to offer an English-taught undergraduate Clinical Medicine program for international students. It was also Yunnan’s first university to pass national quality accreditation and reaccreditation for international student education and quality accreditation for English-taught undergraduate Clinical Medicine education. It has been accredited by the medical councils of India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Thailand and is a major destination for students from South and Southeast Asia studying medicine in China.

The university values service to society and actively provides continuing education and training for medical and related professionals. It is a national continuing education base for professional and technical personnel. It fulfills social responsibilities, strengthens university-local cooperation, and provides targeted support in education, medicine, science and technology, and culture. Its honors include National Civilized Campus, National Advanced Collective in Poverty Alleviation, National Model Resource-Saving Public Institution, Yunnan Civilized Institution, Yunnan Civilized School, Yunnan Advanced Collective in Ideological and Political Work, Yunnan Advanced Collective in Poverty Alleviation, Yunnan Advanced Collective in Ethnic Unity and Progress, Yunnan Advanced Institution in Medical Insurance Fund Management, and Safe Campus.

(Statistics as of January 8, 2026)

Chinese name: 昆明医科大学

English name: Kunming Medical University

Chenggong Campus address: 1168 Chunrong West Road, Yuhua Subdistrict, Chenggong District, Kunming

Postal code: 650500; Telephone: 0871-65922555; Fax: 0871-65922777