TL;DR: Cebu Doctors' University College of Medicine sits in Mandaue City, about 25 minutes from Mactan-Cebu International Airport, and has taught medicine since 1977. Of the four Philippine medical schools in this series, it has the most recent PAASCU accreditation date, 25 November 2022, and it meets the Intealth Recognized Accreditation Policy. It publishes a genuinely detailed requirements pack for both medicine and foreign applicants: NMAT 40th percentile, the CHED Certificate of Eligibility for Medicine checklist down to the ₱60 postal money order, apostille rules, and its dormitory terms. It does not publish tuition, and unlike most schools it says so explicitly — fees are "the exclusive prerogative of the school" and are pre-announced to enrolling families. Agency sites fill that gap with figures from ₹21 lakh to ₹35 lakh.
What Cebu Doctors' University Is
CDU's own site gives 1973 as the founding year, with 6,885 or more active students, 500 or more active faculty and 5,664 or more alumni worldwide. It runs a senior high school, undergraduate programmes, a College of Medicine, a College of Dentistry, a College of Rehabilitative Sciences, a College of Arts and Sciences and graduate programmes. The address is 1 Dr. P. V. Larrazabal Jr. Avenue, North Reclamation, 6014 Mandaue City, Cebu.
The World Directory of Medical Schools lists the medical college under FAIMER ID F0000868 as Cebu Doctors' University College of Medicine, private, currently operational, year instruction started 1977, with the alternate name "Cebu Doctors' College of Medicine (1977 – 2005)" from before the institution became a university.
One practical note before you search for it. The older domain cebudoctorsuniversity.edu now returns "This Account has been suspended", checked on 29 August 2026, and CDU's own medicine requirements document still points to that domain for the application form PDF. The working site is cdu.edu.ph. This is a housekeeping failure rather than anything sinister, but it means some of the requirement links you will find in search results are dead ends.
Programme Structure
CDU describes the MD as a 4-year programme after a BS or AB degree, integrating basic medical sciences, clinical sciences, community-based education, research and evidence-based practice, and professional values formation, with early clinical exposure, rotations through affiliated healthcare facilities, case-based discussion and simulation-based training.
The World Directory records the curriculum as 4 years, last revised in 2003, English medium, admission following completion of an undergraduate degree, entrance exam required, foreign students admitted, with clinical training at 25-49 per cent of the full programme.
Self-reported intake data in that entry: 191 admitted in 2017, 139 in 2018 and 183 in 2019, with 120, 149 and 149 graduating in those years. That is a mid-sized class, larger than Cebu Institute of Medicine and far smaller than the schools that recruit heavily overseas.
CDU also offers EXCEL-Med, a seven-year accelerated pathway for senior high school graduates leading to two degrees. The published material does not state whether foreign students are eligible for it.
Admission for Foreign Applicants
CDU publishes two separate requirement documents, and both are worth reading in full before you contact any agent.
College of Medicine requirements, all applicants:
- A bachelor's degree in any field from an accredited college or university. Preferably the degree included Organic Chemistry, Vertebrate Zoology, College Physics, College Algebra, Trigonometry, Botany or equivalents, and six units of Filipino — subjects taken no more than ten years before filing.
- NMAT score of the 40th percentile or higher, marked "subject to change".
- College transcript of records with all subjects and grades.
- Letters of reference from two former professors at the school last attended, stating the applicant has no derogatory record.
- Birth certificate, certified true copy.
- Three recent 2×2 colour photographs.
- A non-refundable ₱150 application fee, also marked subject to change.
- A personal interview and a health report.
The Admissions Committee evaluates on academic record, NMAT percentile, personal interview and health report, and states that it sets the cut-off level year to year depending on the applicant pool. Applicants who previously enrolled in another medical school are disqualified.
Additional requirements for foreign applicants. These must be apostilled by the country of origin or authenticated by the Philippine Embassy or Consulate there:
- Original scholastic transcript of records
- Diploma or certificate of graduation
- Original birth certificate
- Certificate of good moral character, or recommendation letters from two former professors
- Police clearance from the police authorities of the country of origin or legal residence
- Affidavit of support with bank statement, notarised in the country of origin
Then, once in the Philippines:
- Passport photocopy showing photo, data page and latest arrival stamp, with the original presented for verification
- Quarantine Medical Clearance from the Bureau of Quarantine
- NBI clearance
- Three 2×2 colour photographs
- NMAT result of at least the 40th percentile, obtained within two years of the start of the academic year applied for
Note what is absent: neither document names an English proficiency test such as IELTS or TOEFL. That does not mean one will never be asked for, so confirm with the Foreign Students Office. Our guide to English test requirements for foreign applicants covers what Philippine institutions typically ask.
The Foreign Student's Officer is contactable at [email protected] on +63 (32) 238-8333 extension 8181.
The Certificate of Eligibility for Medicine
This is the step foreign applicants most often underestimate, and CDU documents it better than most. The CEM is issued by CHED and must be secured before enrolment. Students who enrol without it, or without the CHED Study Permit if they are non-resident aliens, are treated as probationary students and must submit by the end of the first semester, at their own risk.
You can obtain it yourself or file through CDU's Registrar's Office, which needs:
- A notarised petition for the CEM, on a form from the Registrar's Office
- A postal money order for ₱60 payable to the Commission on Higher Education, Manila
- Birth certificate, or baptismal certificate or notarised affidavit, in duplicate
- Certificates of good moral character from two former professors, in duplicate
- Original and complete transcript of records, in duplicate
- Authenticated diploma or certificate of graduation, in duplicate, with Special Order (B) indicated for private school graduates
- Three 2×2 colour photographs
- Alien Certificate of Registration, if an alien, in duplicate
- Six documentary stamps at ₱1.50 each
- Residence certificate for the current year
- CHED Study Permit, if a non-resident alien
- Certificate of physical fitness from Cebu Doctors' University Hospital
CDU states clearly that a CHED refusal of the CEM or Study Permit is outside its control, though the Registrar may assist with reconsideration. Plan the ACR I-Card and visa track alongside this — see our guides to the ACR I-Card for foreign students and converting a tourist visa to a student visa.
Fees: What Is Published and What Is Not
| Item | Published amount | Approx. ₹ | Approx. US$ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medicine application fee | ₱150 (non-refundable, subject to change) | ₹230 | US$2.40 |
| CHED postal money order for the CEM | ₱60 | ₹93 | US$1 |
| Full-payment discount on tuition | 5 per cent | — | — |
| Installment plan | Up to three, one third each | — | — |
| Tuition, medicine | Not published | — | — |
| Dormitory rates | Not published | — | — |
Conversions are approximate, at roughly ₱1 = ₹1.55 and ₱62 = US$1.
CDU is unusually direct about the omission. Its requirements document states that "the determination of the chargeable tuition and other school fees is the exclusive prerogative of the school, through its Board of Trustees" and that "the chargeable fees are pre-announced to enable the students and the parents to study, assess, and make a choice". Fees are due in full on the date of registration for first-year students, payable at the Cashier's Office by cash, cheque, bank draft or money order, and students may not attend classes until settled. Paying in full at enrolment earns a 5 per cent discount; the installment option splits into thirds due at enrolment, before the first bimonthly examinations and before the second.
Because there is no public figure, agency sites supply their own. We found CDU quoted as roughly ₹21.47 lakh for 5.5 years, as US$7,000-7,500 per year, and as ₹25-35 lakh for the entire course including living costs, with miscellaneous expenses of US$8,500 a year. Those are cited only as evidence of what agencies publish; CDU has confirmed none of them. Compare with Davao Medical School Foundation, where agency portals quote ₹47-49 lakh for a school in the same country under the same regulator.
Scholarships CDU does list include the Dr. Potenciano V. Larrazabal Jr. Academic Scholarship in Medicine, entrance scholarships, a working student programme and the Maxicare-Go Kim Pah Scholarship Grant.
Housing and Location
CDU is one of the few schools here that publishes real housing detail. Larrazabal Hall offers triple, double and single occupancy rooms plus standard rooms separated by gender, with free water and electricity, free WiFi, full air conditioning, 24/7 CCTV and security, biometric access, individual study tables, bathrooms per room, campus laundry, common study areas and a visitor lounge. You must be officially enrolled to stay. The terms are two months advance rental, non-refundable, a dormitory request form, one 2×2 photo and a semester contract, with payment split 40 per cent upfront, 40 per cent at mid-term and 20 per cent in the final exam period. Rates are not on the page; enquiries go to the dormitory office on (032) 238-8333 extension 8601.
The Foreign Students Office states that approximately 300 international students enrol yearly, from 30 countries across Asia, America, Australia, Africa and Europe, and that the campus is "a mere 25-minute drive (9.1 Kms) from the Mactan-Cebu International Airport", with shopping, banks, hotels, restaurants and hospitals within a 5 km radius. Students train across six affiliated hospitals.
Recognition and the Indian Question
Checked on 29 August 2026, the World Directory Sponsor Notes record that PAASCU most recently gave the CDU programme the status of Accredited on 25 November 2022 — the most recent of the four schools we compared, and the only one from the last decade. PAASCU is the accrediting agency recognised by the World Federation for Medical Education for the Philippines, with recognition status listed to April 2033. The entry confirms the school currently meets the Intealth Recognized Accreditation Policy, and records ECFMG certification eligibility for graduation years 1977 to current.
For Indian applicants, that still is not Indian recognition. The National Medical Commission states it "does not endorse any list of Foreign Medical Institutions/ Universities". What applies is the Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate Regulations, 2021: at least 54 months of course, English medium, a 12-month internship in the same foreign institution, the whole course and internship completed outside India in that one institution, registration with the awarding country's regulator at par with its own citizens, completion within ten years, then a further 12-month supervised internship in India and the screening test.
CDU's MD is listed at four years, 48 months. The NMC public notice of 22 November 2023 describes the Philippine MD in exactly those terms and states that the Commission de-recognises the BS course in the Philippines with effect from 18 November 2021, which removes the usual way agency packages reach 54 months. Separately, the PRC advisory and the Medical Act of 1959 require a foreign national to prove reciprocity before sitting the Philippine Physician Licensure Examination — directly relevant to the NMC's registration condition. On the exam, NBEMS figures reported in Indian coverage for the session held on 17 January 2026 show 10,262 qualified from 42,872 who appeared, about 23.9 per cent; June 2025 was 18.61 per cent. NBEMS does publish school-wise figures in its annual Country/Institute Wise Performance in FMGE report, but CDU barely appears in them — a single candidate in the 2025 report, who passed. A rate computed on one person says nothing about the school, so treat any confident CDU pass-rate claim with suspicion and read the source report yourself.
Verdict
CDU behaves like a well-run institution on almost every axis where documentation is concerned. The requirements are specific, the apostille rules are spelled out, the CEM checklist is itemised to the documentary stamp, the dormitory terms are public, and the accreditation is current. That is a materially better paper trail than most Philippine medical schools give a foreign applicant.
Two caveats. The first is the tuition silence, which CDU at least states honestly rather than obscuring, but which still means you cannot compare cost until you are already in conversation with the Cashier's Office. Ask for the pre-announced fee schedule in writing before you commit to the apostille and clearance work, which is itself expensive and slow. The second is the dead legacy domain, which matters practically: some of the application forms CDU's own documents point at are on a suspended host, so request current forms directly from admissions.
If your NMAT sits at the 40th percentile rather than the 90th, CDU is a realistic option where Cebu Institute of Medicine is not. Register early with our NMAT registration guide, and start the apostille and police clearance work months before you plan to fly.
Sources
- Cebu Doctors' University — https://cdu.edu.ph/
- Cebu Doctors' University, College of Medicine — https://cdu.edu.ph/college-of-medicine/
- Cebu Doctors' University, College of Medicine Requirements (NMAT cutoff, application fee, CEM checklist, payment rules) — https://cdu.edu.ph/_college-of-medicine-requirements-cdu/
- Cebu Doctors' University, Foreign Student Requirements (apostille, clearances, NMAT validity) — https://cdu.edu.ph/foreign-student-requirements-cdu/
- Cebu Doctors' University, Foreign Students Office — https://cdu.edu.ph/foreign-students-office/
- Cebu Doctors' University, Dormitory (Larrazabal Hall) — https://cdu.edu.ph/dormitory/
- Cebu Doctors' University, Admissions — https://cdu.edu.ph/admissions/
- World Directory of Medical Schools, school detail for Cebu Doctors' University College of Medicine (FAIMER ID F0000868) — https://search.wdoms.org/home/SchoolDetail?id=F0000868
- Intealth, Recognized Accreditation Policy — https://www.intealth.org/accreditation/
- World Federation for Medical Education, Agencies with Recognition Status — https://wfme.org/recognition/bme-recognition/accrediting-agencies-status-bme/
- National Medical Commission, For Students to Study Abroad — https://www.nmc.org.in/information-desk/for-students-to-study-in-abroad/
- National Medical Commission, FAQs on the FMGL Regulations, 2021 — https://www.nmc.org.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/5.2-Frequently-Asked-Questions-on-FMGL-Regulations-dated-22nd-February-2022.pdf
- National Medical Commission, Public Notice dated 22 November 2023 (Section B, Philippines) — https://www.nmc.org.in/MCIRest/open/getDocument?path=%2FDocuments%2FPublic%2FPortal%2FLatestNews%2FPublic+notice+fmg.pdf
- Professional Regulation Commission, Public Advisory on Applications of Foreign Nationals — https://www.prc.gov.ph/article/public-advisory-applications-foreign-nationals-intending-take-philippine-licensure
- Center for Educational Measurement, NMAT Bulletin of Information — https://www.cem-inc.org.ph/nmat/files/downloads/NMAT_BOI_OCBT_0725-R.pdf
- Careers360, FMGE December 2025 scorecards, NBEMS figures — https://news.careers360.com/fmge-scorecards-out-december-2025-over-76-foreign-mbbs-graduates-fail-qualify-result-download-link-natboard-edu-in-nbems
- Country/Institute Wise Performance in FMGE 2024 (PDF) — NBEMS
- FMGE Performance Report 2025 (PDF) — NBEMS