Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria is one of the most competitive courses in Nigeria, and choosing the right school can shape the entire trajectory of a medical career. Now, to the most important question medical aspirants ask; which university is best for studying Medicine? The answer is that it depends on a few concrete things. This guide breaks down the top 10 best universities to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria, and explains specifically what makes each one earn its reputation.
What Makes a University Best for Studying Medicine
Before ranking the best universities for studying Medicine in Nigeria, it helps to know what actually separates a strong medical school from an average one:
- MDCN accreditation status: this is different from general NUC accreditation, and is what actually determines whether a graduate’s degree lets them practice.
- Teaching hospital case volume and complexity: a bigger, busier hospital means broader clinical exposure before graduation.
- Graduate licensing performance: how well a school’s graduates perform in MDCN qualifying exams (and international ones like USMLE or PLAB) is a better indicator of teaching quality than name recognition alone.
- Faculty and research strength: schools with active research output tend to expose students to more current clinical thinking.
- Calendar stability: six years is a long time, and interruptions to sequential clinical training carry a real academic cost.
With those criteria in mind, here are the top 10 universities to study Medicine in Nigeria.
Best Universities to Study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria
1. University of Ibadan (UI)
UI is Nigeria’s oldest university, and arguably the best Nigerian university for studying Medicine. Its College of Medicine, founded as a college of the University of London before independence, is central to why it is consistently named among the best universities for studying Medicine in Nigeria.
It is attached to University College Hospital (UCH), Nigeria’s first teaching hospital and is still one of the busiest tertiary referral centres, drawing complex cases from across the South-West and beyond. That case volume is what gives UI graduates their reputation as they’ve typically seen a wider range of pathology by graduation than students at newer institutions.
UI also has one of the strongest research outputs of any Nigerian medical school, and its graduates are frequently cited among the highest performers in international licensing exams. Read more on UI MBBS Programme
2. University of Lagos (UNILAG)
UNILAG’s College of Medicine sits at Idi-Araba, with clinical training in Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), one of the busiest hospitals in West Africa. Being in Lagos means an enormous and diverse patient population involving trauma, infectious disease, chronic illness, are all at high volume, which translates into genuinely broad clinical exposure.
UNILAG also consistently produces some of the highest-scoring candidates in MDCN qualifying examinations nationally, and its alumni network is unusually strong in both academic medicine and private practice, partly because Lagos is where much of Nigeria’s private healthcare sector is concentrated. This is why it’s named among the best universities to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria.
3. Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife
OAU’s College of Health Sciences trains through the OAU Teaching Hospitals Complex (OAUTHC) is named among the best universities to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria. The school has built a specific reputation for strength in surgery and internal medicine, areas where its faculty are frequently cited in national conversations about specialist training.
OAU also benefits from being one of the more institutionally stable universities academically.
The competition for its roughly 150–200 Medicine and Surgery admission slots each year, against several thousand applicants, is itself a signal of how highly the programme is regarded.
4. Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria
ABU runs the largest medical college in northern Nigeria, attached to Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH). Its standout feature; the College of Medicine has historically had around 17 accredited departments, meaning students train alongside, and can later specialize in, an unusually wide range of clinical and preclinical disciplines without leaving the institution.
ABU has also produced a share of Nigeria’s senior military and public-health physicians, reflecting a long institutional track record. For candidates from northern Nigeria in particular, it remains the natural first choice given the size of its teaching hospital network and its established referral base.
5. University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN)
UNN’s College of Medicine, with clinical training at UNTH Ituku-Ozalla, is the flagship medical school of the South-East and one of the oldest indigenous Nigerian universities overall, founded by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1955, and named one of the best universities to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria.
UNN is one of the few Nigerian universities to run a full Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) as a first degree, giving it unusually deep infrastructure across the health sciences generally. Its faculty and teaching hospital have decades of experience training doctors who now anchor much of the South-East’s tertiary healthcare system.
6. University of Ilorin (UNILORIN)
UNILORIN’s Faculty of Clinical Sciences trains through UNILORIN Teaching Hospital (UITH), but the reason it’s consistently ranked among the best universities to study Medicine in Nigeria has as much to do with consistency as clinical quality.
The university has one of the most stable academic calendars in the country, historically avoiding the disruptions that have affected training continuity elsewhere. Although, the University has recently explained a backlog induction issue, UNILORIN medical programme still remains one of the best die to academic excellence and alumni success. Read more on UNILORIN MBBS Programme
7. University of Benin (UNIBEN)
UNIBEN’s medical programme runs through the University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH), a major tertiary referral centre for the South-South region. UBTH’s patient base gives students meaningful exposure to conditions common in that part of the country, including a strong caseload in areas like sickle cell disease management, which shapes graduates who are particularly well-prepared for regional practice.
UNIBEN is also one of the oldest federal medical schools, giving it a long-established alumni network across Nigerian teaching hospitals.
8. University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT)
UNIPORT trains through the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, and its medical programme has grown a solid reputation as a strong second-tier federal option, particularly for oil-belt and riverine-region healthcare needs where its graduates often practice, giving it the title of one the best universities to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria.
Its faculty of clinical sciences has built especially credible strength in community medicine and public health, reflecting the practical demands of the region it serves. Read more on UNIPORT MBBS Programme
9. University of Calabar (UNICAL)
UNICAL’s College of Medical Sciences, alongside the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, has quietly built one of the better MDCN qualifying-exam pass rates among schools outside the traditional “big four” (UI, UNILAG, OAU, ABU), this is a meaningful signal of teaching quality since it reflects outcomes rather than just reputation.
It is a good example of a school that outperforms its public profile, and worth serious consideration for candidates weighing options beyond the most famous names.
10. Lagos State University (LASU) and Afe Babalola University (ABUAD)
Rounding out the list are the strongest state and private options for Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria, for different reasons:
LASU’s College of Medicine draws on Lagos’s dense hospital network for clinical rotations, giving students access to some of the same high-volume, high-complexity case exposure that makes Lagos generally attractive for medical training.
ABUAD, in Ekiti State, is widely regarded as the strongest private MBBS option in Nigeria. Its main advantage is that it isn’t subject to the academic-calendar disruptions that occasionally affect public universities. Students move through pre-clinical and clinical years on a predictable schedule, with modern facilities to match. That reliability is precisely what justifies its considerably higher tuition for families who can afford it.
Both institutions are equally ranked on the list of best universities to study Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria.
Which University Is Best for Studying Medicine in Nigeria?
There’s no single answer to which university is best for studying Medicine in Nigeria. It depends on region, budget, and what you value most in six years of training. UI, UNILAG, OAU, and ABU remain the most prestigious names nationally because of their teaching hospitals, research output, and alumni reach.
UNN, UNILORIN, UNIBEN, UNIPORT, and UNICAL each offer strong regional alternatives with their own distinct advantages. And LASU or ABUAD are worth serious consideration if state-school affordability or private-school stability matters more to you than pure prestige.
Whichever school you’re drawn to, remember that Medicine and Surgery in Nigeria is ultimately six demanding years followed by housemanship. The quality of your own effort during this period will matter more than the school name, but studying at one of the best universities for Medicine gives you a great start.
