Arba Minch University

Health and medical education

Arba Minch University's College of Medicine and Health Sciences (CMHS) is on Nech Sar Campus. Its founding year depends on the page. The college's profile says it was established in 2008 (2000 E.C.). Another university page says the college, formerly the Faculty of Health Sciences, was founded in 2007 to meet the national shortage of health workers. A university news item, seen only as a search result, put the start of the School of Medicine and a midwifery department in 2009/10.

Note: amu.edu.et refused connections from our location while we were researching. The details below come from archived copies of the university's own pages (from May and October 2026), the Education and Training Authority's register, news reports and search results that quote the university's site.

Programmes

The university's October 2026 programme list names these health fields under Medicine and Health Sciences: Medicine, Anesthesia, Comprehensive Nursing, Midwifery, Pharmacy, Medical Laboratory Science, Medical Radiology Technology, Environmental Health and Public Health, plus the master's programmes Clinical Midwifery and Adult Health Nursing. A university news item quoted in search results said the college now runs 10 departments with 16 undergraduate and 7 master's programmes. The college profile mentions PhD programmes but does not name them.

Midwifery has a longer record than most. Arba Minch launched midwifery in 2010 and the MSc in Clinical Midwifery in 2017, a training route for non-physician clinicians that includes caesarean section. A 2023 study counted 52 graduates of that programme. The School of Medicine has said it plans to open residencies in general surgery and obstetrics and gynaecology. We did not find confirmation that either has started.

Doctors trained

According to university news reported in search results, AMU graduated its 9th batch of 70 Doctors of Medicine on 24 February 2024 and said all of them passed the national exit exam. This is the university's own claim. A later report put the college's total at 817 medical doctors over ten graduation rounds.

Teaching hospitals

For years, clinical teaching relied on Arba Minch General Hospital, a public hospital in town that Wikipedia lists with 200 beds. The university's own Teaching and Comprehensive Specialized Hospital was inaugurated on 6 July 2024, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed present (Fana Broadcasting). Its foundation stone was laid in 2015 for what was then described as a 300-bed hospital. A university announcement describes it as a 600-bed multi-specialty hospital. We could not confirm the current number of beds in use. The college office is now on the second floor of the hospital building.

Accreditation

Arba Minch is one of very few universities with health programmes on the Education and Training Authority's new online register. Both its Medicine programme (certificate ETA-000002) and its Midwifery programme (ETA-000003, where the register misspells the name as "Arba Mich University") are provisionally accredited, issued 29 May 2025 and valid to 28 May 2028. We could not check the World Directory of Medical Schools, which blocked automated access.

Rankings

EduRank places Arba Minch 9th in Ethiopia for medicine research, 8th for public health and 10th for nursing and obstetrics–gynaecology. These rankings count research output, and Arba Minch's health college is younger than those above it.

The institution

Arba Minch University grew out of the Arba Minch Water Technology Institute, established in 1986 (1978 E.C.). It became a university by government proclamation on 20 September 2004. It is known for water and engineering research and was one of the eight research universities in the Ministry's 2020 classification. EduRank ranks it 8th in Ethiopia overall; uniRank ranks it 10th.

The university is in Arba Minch, about 435–505 km south of Addis Ababa depending on the source and route, between Lakes Abaya and Chamo. Its campuses include the Main, Abaya, Chamo, Kulfo, Nech Sar and Sawla campuses; health programmes are at Nech Sar. Regular undergraduates are placed through the national system after the entrance exam.

Before you apply

• Check that the university's site is reachable before you rely on online forms. If it isn't, call the Corporate Communication line or the college office.
• Arba Minch's MD and midwifery programmes have provisional ETA accreditation (to May 2028). Ask what the university is doing to move to full accreditation.
• Ask how clinical rotations are split between the new university hospital and Arba Minch General Hospital, and which specialties are running at the new hospital.
• If you want a residency here, confirm whether general surgery or obstetrics and gynaecology residencies have opened.