Sichuan University in Chengdu hosts the West China School of Medicine — China's oldest and most famous medical school west of the Yangtze, founded by Western missionaries in 1910 and often called 'the Harvard of Western China.' The six-year English-medium MBBS is one of China's most established international programmes, listed with WHO, ECFMG, and GMC. Clinical training takes place at West China Hospital — a 4,300-bed mega-hospital (one of the world's largest single-site hospitals) that handles 6 million outpatient visits annually and is China's top-ranked hospital for clinical research output. The West China School of Stomatology (Dentistry) is ranked number one in Asia.

Research strengths include regenerative medicine, biotherapy, evidence-based medicine (West China Hospital pioneered EBM in China), and global surgery. Chengdu is one of China's most liveable cities, famous for its spicy cuisine, tea house culture, giant pandas, and rapidly growing tech sector. Living costs are remarkably low by international standards.

For UK students, the combination of world-class clinical volume, affordable tuition (approximately £4,000/year), and a historically significant medical school represents exceptional value.