The current college was created in 1993 with the approval of the central government. In 1951, two private medical colleges were merged to form the Hainan Specialized Medical School. These two colleges were Haiqiang Medical Vocational School (created in 1947) and the Medical College of Hainan University (established in 1948).

In 1993, the college became the Hainan Medical College to reflect its specialization in medicine. In 1994, Hainan Medical College was accredited to offer bachelor’s degrees and in 1996 was accredited for undergraduate education by the Ministry of Education.

The University now offers 27 specialties in three different medical disciplines to undergraduates, including medicine, science and management and 21 specialties for a vocational program. The university hosts 15 schools and departments，e.g. School of Clinical Medicine, School of Vocational Education and School of International Education etc. There are 6 provincial key disciplines, 4 provincial key laboratories, 15 provincial excellent courses, and 3 provincial key courses. There are 80 teaching and internship bases and 4 affiliated hospitals, one of which is directly under the HMU. To date, HMU has enrolled over 12,000 Chinese students and more than 100 international students.