The "Agostino Gemelli" Medical School was inaugurated in Rome on November 5th, 1961 under first university president Professor Francesco Vito. Also in attendance were the current and future popes - Pope Giovanni XXIII, and the Milan Archbishop, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, who was subsequently elected Pope Paolo VI.

Three years later, on July 10th 1964, the Universitą Cattolica del Sacro Cuore became not only the first Italian university to introduce an enrollment cap, but the first to open its own working hospital divisions, managed under the name of the Policlinico Universitario Agostino Gemelli.

"The primary goal of our institution, established by our beloved founder Father Agostino Gemelli, is based on the principle that there should be no instruction without true education, and that it will never reach its purpose unless it turns first and foremost to the spirit ..."

(University President, prof. Francesco Vito, 1964)

Rome and its students: Starting medical studies and enrolling in one of the two Specialization Schools (Medical / Dental), or into one of the 15 first-level degrees, means becoming part of an academic community in which learning becomes a daily and direct contact with the outside working environment.

The campus, located at the feet of Monte Mario, was built following strict Anglo-Saxon canons on land donated in 1934 by Pope Pio XI to the Istituto Giuseppe Toniolo di Studi Superiori (The Institution is the founder as well as the guarantor for the Universitą Cattolica del Sacro Cuore). These beautiful 37 hectars, situated next to the Parco Regionale del Pineto, are home to dormitories, libraries, specially equipped classrooms, a Church, sports and recreational facilities, and other student services.

Faithful to the university goal of "meeting student needs", 19 first-level medical degrees in 14 satellite locations have since been added to the curriculum. Also available in Rome is the Specialization School for Nursing Management, and School for Cosmetology Technicians.