The medical program of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Helsinki consists of three phases: a two-year preclinical phase, one-term clinical-theoretical phase, and a three-year clinical phase. The dental program of the Faculty comprises two years of preclinical studies together with medical students and a three-year clinical phase. The principle of horizontal integration has been applied to all the phases of the medical and dental curricula. The Faculty of Medicine has adopted the philosophy of student-oriented learning by implementing the methods of problem-based learning (PBL). Most of the teaching/learning takes place in small work groups.

The first two years of the undergraduate medical curriculum takes place in the Biomedicum Helsinki building, as outlined in the Helsinki 2000 curriculum of the Faculty of Medicine. The two-year curriculum is the same for medical and dental students. The first year covers basic science subjects in biological disciplines, and the studies during the second year are arranged by organ systems.