West China School of Medicine is one of the earliest schools granting doctoral degree in West China. It began to recruit master students in 1978, and started to recruit doctoral students in 1982. Now the School is authorized to confer master and doctoral degrees in 4 primary disciplines (Clinical Medicine, Integrated TCM and Western Medicine, Allied Health and Nursing), with 67 doctoral degree programs and 68 master's degree programs. It has 526 supervisors of Ph.D. students, and 676 supervisors in the Master’s program.

The Department of Graduate Education was founded in 1984 and is one of the main departments in the school and hospital. It is responsible for the recruitment, training, degree-conferring, employment, construction of supervisor team, and administration of routine work of clinical medical graduate students.

Each year, West China School of Medicine welcomes approximately 600 master’s students and 300 doctoral students, who come from all over China, including Taiwan and Macao. In recent years, the school has also been recruiting foreign graduate students.  

The Medical Graduate Education program provides research degree and professional degree programs, which will award master’s degrees (Master of Medical Sciences or Master of Clinical Medicine) and doctoral degrees (Doctor of Philosophy or Doctor of Clinical Medicine) correspondingly.

The Graduate Education programs cover lots of disciplines, including Internal Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Pediatrics, Ophthalmology, ENT, Neurology, Psychology, Dermatology, Oncology, Anesthesiology, Radiology, Laboratory Medicine, Nursing, Geriatrics, Rehabilitation Medicine, Sports Medicine, Evidence-based Medicine, Transplantation Medicine, GLP/GCP, Clinical Genetics, Integrated TCM and Western Medicine, Pathology, Pathophysiology, Physiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Emergency Medicine, Allied Health Professions, Medical Informatics, Hospital Management and Health Policy, General Medical, Maternal and Infant Medical, and others.

West China School of Medicine has a very strong Graduate Student Support System, which provides financial support from the university, the medical school, the tutors, and external groups. With this support, graduate students can devote themselves completely to their research and clinical training.

The School has enhanced the categorized and personalized training of postgraduate students, establishing a high-level and diversified postgraduate education model. Postgraduate education is divided into academic degrees and professional degrees. The primary goal of academic degrees is to strengthen students' scientific research and innovation capabilities, while professional degrees focus on enhancing clinical practice and job competency training. Through a century of trials and the diligent efforts of generations of Huaxi educators, the School has become a center for medical education in western China. It leads the nation in medical education reform and international integration, truly earning its reputation as the cradle of medical education in western China.