Asahikawa Medical University was founded at the behest of the national government in November 1973 as the first national medical university to be established to improve regional medical services and welfare, and reduce urban-rural medical care differences. In 2004 it became, along with the other national universities in Japan, a National University Corporation.
Since it was founded, Asahikawa Medical University has produced 3,777 graduates from the Medical Course and 1,085 graduates from the Nursing Course, many of whom are employed at the vanguard of community medicine, research institutes, and administrative bodies.