TL;DR: AMA School of Medicine runs a Doctor of Medicine programme from Makati with a second campus in Baguio, base hospitals at Pasay City General Hospital and Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, and a published admission checklist that includes a bachelor's degree, NMAT eligibility and a CHED Certificate of Eligibility. It publishes no tuition figure anywhere. Its own site claims recognition by the World Health Organization and the Medical Council of India: WHO runs no such scheme, and MCI ceased to exist in 2020. In FMGE 2020, the last year NBEMS published institute-wise data, 119 AMA candidates appeared and 33 passed. Scholarships are for local students only.
What AMA School of Medicine Is
AMA School of Medicine (AMASOM) is the medical school of the AMA Education System. Its own about page states the main campus is "located in the bustling metropolis of Makati City" and that AMASOM "has expanded its reach by establishing a campus in Baguio City." No Bulacan or Fairview campus appears on the site.
The APMC directory, March 2025, confirms both and lists them as separate entries:
| Directory entry | Address |
|---|---|
| National Capital Region #1: AMA School of Medicine | 5486 South Super Highway corner Gen. Tinio, Bangkal, Makati City |
| Cordillera Administrative Region #21: AMA School of Medicine-Baguio City | 3rd Floor, No. 12 Palispis-Aspiras Highway, Baguio City |
If you are applying, be clear which campus your offer is for. The teaching hospitals differ: AMASOM states that "our Makati campus base hospital is Pasay City General Hospital (PCGH)" and that the Baguio equivalent is "Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC)." Those are two very different clinical environments, and CHED requires major clinical training to happen in at least a secondary-care hospital with a minimum of 100 beds accredited by APMC for training medical students and interns.
The wider institutional record is on the AMA School of Medicine profile.
The Two Claims to Check Before Anything Else
AMASOM's own foreign students page states that "AMASOM is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Medical Council of India (MCI)," and its about page says the MD programme "is recognized as a prestigious medical degree by the Medical Council of India."
Both need scrutiny, and this is not nit-picking, because these are the two claims that most often persuade an Indian family to sign.
On WHO. There is no WHO accreditation or recognition scheme for medical schools. The World Directory of Medical Schools is operated by WFME and FAIMER. Intealth's Recognized Accreditation Policy — the rule that governs how ECFMG treats a medical school's accreditation — names exactly two organisations whose approved agencies count: WFME and NCFMEA. WHO is not among them and does not perform that function. If a school claims WHO recognition, ask it to produce the document.
On MCI. The Medical Council of India was superseded by the National Medical Commission in 2020. A recognition claim naming MCI in 2026 points at a body that no longer exists. And the NMC does not certify foreign colleges one by one. It applies the FMGL Regulations, 2021 to the course at the point an individual applies for registration in India, which is typically five to seven years after the tuition was paid.
None of this means the school is bad. It means the two headline reassurances on its own website are not reassurances, and you should evaluate everything else on the merits. The general version of this problem is set out in the MBBS in the Philippines guide for Indian students.
Programme Structure and Admission
AMASOM describes a "hybrid curriculum" that combines basic science concepts with case-based and problem-based learning, organ-based modules from first year, and IT-based assessment tools. Its foreign students page says it takes "International students from India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Maldives, and some African countries," and describes a "one-year plus BS Psychology pre-med program" that credits Biology, Physics and Chemistry for K-12 Indian students, followed by the MD.
Flag that pre-medical route now. NMC's public notice of 22 November 2023 records that with effect from 18 November 2021, "NMC de-recognises BS Course in Philippines." A BS-plus-MD pathway sold to an Indian student is the exact structure that notice addresses. Ask AMASOM, in writing, how the pathway it offers you satisfies the FMGL Regulations, and keep the answer.
Published admission requirements, from the school's requirements page:
| Item | What AMASOM states |
|---|---|
| Prior degree | "Four-year Bachelor's degree in Science or the Arts" |
| Entrance test | "Eligibility for National Medical Admission Test (NMAT)" |
| Documents | Transcript of records, diploma or certificate of graduation, CHED Certificate of Eligibility, NMAT result |
| International extras | Passport copy, tourist or student visa documentation, copy of the Bureau of Quarantine stamp in the passport |
| Process | Application form at the AMASOM office, interview with the dean or college secretary, document submission, fee assessment, payment |
| Scholarships | "restricted to local students only" |
The CHED Certificate of Eligibility for Admission to Medicine (CEMed) is a separate application from the school's. Foreign nationals apply through the CHED Office of Student Services at the National Engineering Center Building, UP Diliman. CEM is explicit that the CEMed "does not automatically assure the applicant of a slot in any of the medical schools in the country."
NMAT fees published by CEM: ₱500 registration plus ₱1,400 test fee for domestic applicants, ₱1,900 total, around ₹2,950. NMAT-International applicants pay US$15 plus US$45, US$60 total, roughly ₱3,700, with the registration portion non-refundable.
The programme's shape is fixed by CHED Memorandum Order No. 10, series of 2006 regardless of curriculum design: four years, the fourth being a twelve-month rotating clinical clerkship; the MD conferred after the fourth year; and a separate postgraduate internship required before licensure, supervised by APMCFI. The same order requires the last two curriculum years to be taken at the conferring college, dismisses any student failing 40 per cent or more of the annual academic load at any year level, drops automatically anyone failing the same subject twice, and permits new-student intake only in the first semester.
Fees: Nothing Published, Wide Agency Spread
We could not find a single tuition figure on amaschoolofmedicine.amaes.edu.ph. The requirements page refers to "application and processing fees" and a fee assessment step. No amounts. The contact address is [email protected].
What agencies publish instead, cited as examples of agency claims rather than as AMA fees:
- RMC Edu describes a 6-year structure: "The program consists of a Pre-medical course, an MD course, and a one-year internship." It offers no total fee, only that the school has "a low-cost fee structure" and "charges significantly lower lodging fees." It claims approval by "Medical Council Of India (MCI)," the "World Health Organization (WHO)" and — oddly for a recognition list — "Quirino Memorial Medical Center (QMMC)."
That last item is instructive. Naming a Quezon City public hospital as a recognition authority, when the school itself names Pasay City General Hospital as its Makati base hospital, is the kind of detail that shows how far some of these pages sit from the source.
Not published — confirm with the registrar. Write to AMASOM and ask for: annual tuition and miscellaneous fees for a non-Filipino student on the campus you are applying to, whether the BS pre-medical year is billed separately, the internship year's cost, whether fees are fixed for the duration, and the current base hospital and its bed count.
Whatever number a recruiter gives you, it is not AMA's published number, because AMA has not published one.
The FMGE Record
NBEMS published country and institute-wise FMGE performance reports up to 2020, and session totals only since then. These are the only official per-school numbers for AMASOM.
| Report | Appeared | Passed | Pass % | All-country pass % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FMGE 2019 | 3 | 1 | 33.33% | 25.79% |
| FMGE 2020 | 119 | 33 | 27.73% | 16.48% |
The 2019 line is three candidates and means nothing statistically. The 2020 line is real: 119 candidates, 27.73 per cent, against a global 16.48 per cent that year. Better than the world average, and still roughly seven in ten candidates failing.
The jump from 3 candidates to 119 in one report year also tells you the Indian intake at AMASOM scaled up fast in the late 2010s. Rapid scaling is worth asking about — faculty-to-student ratios, clinical placement capacity at a single base hospital, and whether the ratios CMO 10 sets out (1:100 for lectures, 1:25 for laboratory sessions, 1:10 for small-group tutorials, one occupied hospital bed per fourth-year clinical clerk) are being met.
For scale on the exam: NBEMS reported 42,872 candidates appearing in the December 2025 FMGE session held on 17 January 2026, with 10,262 passing, 23.95 per cent. The June 2025 session was 18.61 per cent.
What India Requires, in Full
The FMGL Regulations, 2021, effective 18 November 2021, require a foreign medical degree of at least 54 months, taught in English, with an internship of twelve months in the same foreign institution where the primary qualification was obtained, registration with the licensing body of the country awarding the degree, and a pass in the screening test or National Exit Test. A further twelve-month supervised internship in India follows.
NMC's FAQ on the regulations states that the whole course, training and internship must be done outside India in the same foreign institution, that no part may be done in India or a third country, that the course must be finished within ten years of joining, and that internship or clerkship is separate from the clinical posting inside the 54 months.
The NMC public notice of 22 November 2023 applies this to the Philippines directly: the BS course is de-recognised from 18 November 2021, and MD students admitted on or before that date must do an extra internship year "(Since their course is of 48 months only unlike 54 months MBBS course in India)." In November 2024 NMC circulated a further advisory warning that any variation in duration, medium of instruction, syllabus, clinical training or internship "may lead to disqualification in grant of registration in India," and that "in case of disqualification, the sole responsibility shall lie upon the candidate only."
And there is the registration condition in FMGL Regulation 4(b). The Philippine licensing body is the PRC, and Republic Act No. 2382, Section 9 allows a foreign citizen to sit the physician licensure examination only where DFA-confirmed documentary evidence shows the applicant's home country lets Filipinos practise on the same terms. PRC publishes a form for a Certification of Ineligibility of a Non-Filipino Citizen to take a licensure examination. Treat this as an open question and get the school's written position before you enrol.
Visas and Living
Foreign medical students need a 9(f) student visa. AMASOM's requirements page accepts a tourist visa at application stage with the Bureau of Quarantine stamp, which implies conversion afterwards — a normal Philippine pattern but one that leaves you on a clock. Bureau of Immigration lists 9(f) application fees totalling around ₱9,720 plus US$50 for the ACR I-Card, with extensions around ₱4,020 plus US$50. The process runs through the BI main office or another authorised immigration office, with pre-screening, biometrics, online status check and passport implementation. The detail is in the 9(f) student visa guide.
On accommodation, AMASOM's facilities page shows classrooms, laboratories and study areas but publishes no dormitory, library or hospital descriptions and no room rates. Any hostel, mess or "Indian food available" claim attached to this school online is an agency claim.
Makati is central Metro Manila with correspondingly high living costs; Baguio is a highland city 250 km north with a different cost base and climate. Pick deliberately.
Verdict
AMA School of Medicine publishes a usable admission checklist and names its base hospitals, which is more than some Philippine medical schools manage. Its 2020 FMGE cohort of 119 candidates at 27.73 per cent beat the world average that year.
What it does not do is publish a price, and what it does publish about its own recognition is not defensible. WHO does not recognise medical schools. MCI has not existed since 2020. The BS pre-medical pathway it markets to Indian K-12 students is the specific structure NMC de-recognised in 2021. Those three things sit on the school's own pages, in 2026, and an applicant reading them at face value would form a materially wrong picture of the degree's standing in India.
If you are still interested after that, put everything in writing: campus, base hospital, exact programme name and duration, full fee schedule, and the school's answer on the 54-month rule and PRC registration. Do not accept a verbal answer from a recruiter for any of it.
Compare with the other three in this series: Emilio Aguinaldo College in Manila, University of Perpetual Help DALTA in Las Piñas, and Lyceum-Northwestern in Dagupan.
Sources
- AMA School of Medicine, home
- AMA School of Medicine, about AMASOM
- AMA School of Medicine, admission requirements
- AMA School of Medicine, foreign students
- AMA School of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine programme
- AMA School of Medicine, facilities
- APMC Directory of Medical Schools, March 2025
- CHED Memorandum Order No. 10, s. 2006
- CEM: Admission to Philippine Medical Schools
- CEM NMAT Payment and Refund Policy
- Intealth Recognized Accreditation Policy
- NMC FAQs on the FMGL Regulations, 2021
- NMC Public Notice, 22 November 2023: clarifications for FMGs
- NMC advisory to Indian students seeking admission abroad, November 2024
- NBEMS: Country/Institute Wise Performance in FMGE 2020
- NBE: Country/Institute Wise Performance in FMGE 2019
- Careers360 on the FMGE December 2025 results, citing NBEMS
- Republic Act No. 2382, Medical Act of 1959
- PRC: Certificate of Ineligibility for Non-Filipino Citizens
- Bureau of Immigration: Student Visa
- Agency claim, cited as an example only: RMC Edu on AMA School of Medicine