Despite an increase in Western medical services, Macau had no formal medical schools under the Portuguese administration. For the 20th century, doctors who came to practice medicine in Macau were mainly trained in Portugal, mainland China, Hong Kong or elsewhere.  Since 2010, the Faculty of Health Sciences of MUST (the predecessor of the Faculty of Medicine) has been exploring the possibility of providing medical education and training in Macau, through a series of consultations with experts in medical education. These culminated in a series of discussions with MUST administration led by Chairman of MUST Foundation and Chancellor of MUST Dr. Liu Chak Wan, and on 25 September 2015 a proposal with details of a ‘Competency Based Curriculum’ of Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) was submitted to the Education Bureau for approval.

The Education Bureau noted:

MUST already has a well established Faculty of Health Sciences; a state-of-the-art skills training centre and academic links with Hong Kong, Mainland and overseas institution for additional opportunities for collaboration.

On 14 January 2019, the Official Gazette of the Macau SAR announced the formal approval for the MBBS program at MUST.

Recognition on a global scale is important for any medical education institution. This is even more so for a young medical school like ours, in order to reassure the SAR Government, the public as well as stakeholders that our Medical School will produce students with the necessary credentials. Our Faculty is also part of a network of global medical schools. We have been listed in the World Directory of Medical Schools since October 2019. The Directory is published by the World Federation of Medical Education and the Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research.

We are also a founding member of the World Portuguese Speaking Countries Medical School Alliance, established in November 2019. This alliance has 12 other founding members from Portugal, Brazil and Mozambique.