Medicine and Surgery

Year 1 – introducing the fundamentals for clinical practice

You’ll start year one with a four-week induction period, to get to know your tutors and fellow students and the course requirements. There’ll be an introduction to study and the challenges of medicine, as well as social activities. The first year introduces you to the core professional themes, which run throughout the course, and the biomedical scientific principles which underpin clinical practice. These form the foundation of your undergraduate teaching and later years continually build on these.

The IDEALS (Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Leadership, Safety) theme addresses the challenges and requirements of modern practice, whilst Campus to Clinic develops your clinical decision-making and patient safety skills.

You’ll study the biomedical sciences and integrate anatomy dissection with radiology, physiology, clinical assessment and pharmacology. You’ll learn about the psychological and societal aspects of behavior and human development, their role in health and illness and treatment of medical problems.

Your communication skills, with both patients and fellow professionals, will be developed through teaching and through clinical placements with multi-disciplinary teams. You’ll increase your understanding of research methods central to delivering evidence-based medical care.

Read more about Year 1 study and curriculum on the School’s website.

Year 2 – building on the fundamentals

You’ll enhance your understanding of clinical conditions, whilst developing an insight into clinical laboratory science and the role of ethics and law in healthcare provision.

You’ll learn about the anatomy of the musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Further exposure to clinical practice will help develop your consultation, diagnostic and practical skills. You’ll appreciate the different types of investigations carried out in diagnosing common conditions and diseases across populations, and the ways in which illness impacts on individuals and society.

Your understanding of human experience and behaviour in health and illness will also continue to grow through academic teaching sessions, patient visits and exposure to the Patient Voice Group.

You’ll be trained in the skills needed to carry out research effectively, how to investigate epidemiological data and to consider evidence in relation to the overall health of a population. You’ll also participate in a two-week project on enterprise, allowing you to study an area outside mainstream medicine and develop your critical reflection, as well as specific enterprise and entrepreneurial skills.

Read more about Year 2 study and curriculum on the School’s website.

Year 3 – increasing clinical exposure with junior clinical placements

In your third year, you’ll continue to develop and consolidate the programme’s core elements and to learn about evidence-based medicine. You’ll integrate your clinical skills and knowledge through five five-week clinical placements, which provide a thorough grounding in general medicine and exposure to a diverse range of conditions and patients.

The SAFER-MEDIC theme links our core curriculum with GMC-identified outcomes and standards of undergraduate medical education.

Read more about Year 3 study and curriculum on the School’s website.

Year 4 – gaining in clinical experience with specialty placements

In year 4, you’ll develop greater understanding of the genetic, social and environmental factors that determine disease, appreciate the principles of treatment and response to treatment.

You’ll learn about anaesthetic and perioperative care, acute and critical care, women and children’s health, recurrent and chronic illnesses, mental and physical disabilities, rehabilitation, relieving pain and distress, and palliative care. You’ll be expected to be able to synthesise more complex clinical information for diagnosis and management. This will involve practice in clinical reasoning, generating differential diagnoses, making a diagnosis, and deciding appropriate management plans for all common and important conditions.

You’ll further enhance your leadership, team-working, conflict management and negotiating skills and learn about the NHS business and organisational environment, legislation, strategic analysis and how to manage change effectively. You’ll undertake five clinical placements of six weeks each, in specialist areas of medicine.

Read more about Year 4 study and curriculum on the School’s website.

Year 5 – the transition from medical student to doctor

As a final year MBChB student, you’ll be expected to call on knowledge from previous years that are of relevance to practice as a F1 doctor.

You’ll participate in three eight-week placements with a strong focus on making the transition from student to qualified practitioner. These longer placements help to build strong relationships with clinical teams. One placement involves the integration of teaching between primary and secondary care environments. All placements are in key clinical areas, with variations in clinical specialty to allow you to tailor this final year to suit your individual learning needs.

Read more about Year 5 study and curriculum on the School’s website.

Finally, as well as the wide-ranging curriculum, there’s also chance to tailor your studies through:

• Intercalation – taking an extra degree in one year, usually after year 2, 3 or 4 of the MBChB. It’s a chance to broaden your knowledge and enhance your career opportunities. Nearly half our year 3 undergraduate medical students choose to intercalate each year.
• 6-week elective – between years 4 and 5, this can allow you to gain wider clinical experience or carry out a particular project in the UK or abroad. This elective is about gaining wider clinical experience or carrying out a specific project. Past students have worked in health centres, charities, universities and hospitals in Australia, Samoa, Vanuatu, China, Italy, Nepal and Tanzania. MBChB students can study languages as part of the “Students without Borders” programme, so they are fluent enough to work as junior doctors in French- or Spanish-speaking countries after graduation. We also offer help and advice about North American licensing systems and examinations to assist students who want to train in the USA and Canada.

Course structure

These are typical modules/components studied and may change from time to time. Read more in our Terms and conditions.

Modules Year 1

Compulsory modules

• Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Leadership and Safety (IDEALS) 1
• Individuals and Populations
• Research, Evaluation and Special Studies (RESS) 1
• Campus to Clinic 1
• Introduction to Medical Sciences
• Body Systems

Year 2

Compulsory modules

• Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Leadership and Safety (IDEALS) 2
• Control and Movement
• Individuals and Populations 2
• Research, Evaluation and Special Studies (RESS) 2
• Campus to Clinic 2
• Essential Medical Science
• Clinical Pathology

Optional modules

Year 3

Compulsory modules

• Innovation, Development, Enterprise, Leadership and Safety (IDEALS) 3
• Research, Evaluation and Special Studies (RESS) 3
• SAFER-MEDIC
• Integrated Medicine Placement
• Elderly and Rehabilitation Care Placement
• Primary Care Placement