Medicine Graduate, Professional Entry Programme

Course detail Description

Course details

The MBBS programme at King’s aims to train students to become:

• Critical scientific thinkers

• Collaborative leaders and innovators

• Outstanding patient-centred clinicians

• Excellent team-players

• Educators and life-long learners.

• Resilient and adaptable professionals

The MBBS curriculum is divided into three ‘Stages’: with an opt-out intercalation year between Stages 2 and 3.Although we offer four entry routes into Medicine, all our students follow the same core MBBS curriculum.

The Medicine Graduate & Professional Entry (GPEP) is our four-year fast-track entry route into medicine for science graduates and health professionals. We have been running this programme since 2004, and our GPEP has quickly become one of the most popular routes of its kind in the UK.

From the start of your programme you will be introduced to patients and clinicians. You will also work with other students destined for healthcare professions such as dentistry, nursing and midwifery. Inter-professional education and team-based learning are an integral part of the programme, developing your teamwork, communication, and an awareness of your ethical and professional responsibilities.

As a graduate with professional experience you will by-pass the first stage of our conventional medicine degree and join us in the second stage. From this point you will follow the same programme as all our other medical students:

Stage 2 brings together science and clinical practice in blocks organised around the human life-cycle and common pathological processes. It focuses on the care of patients with common conditions in a range of clinical settings. You will also follow patients for prolonged periods of time to learn how to deliver whole-person care. This stage is underpinned by study in biomedical and population sciences.

Stage 3 is oriented towards future practice, and includes the opportunity to undertake elective study abroad. You will also conduct quality improvement projects and develop skills to transform patient and population health at home and abroad. Inter-professional training and increasingly realistic simulation are important parts of the curriculum.

The intercalated degree is a one-year BSc degree which gives you the opportunity to study the subjects of your choice in greater depth across King’s and the university’s clinical partners. As a multi-faculty institution, we offer an unrivalled range of intercalated degrees from clinical and biomedical sciences to humanities subjects. The intercalated BSc is mandatory however students can request to opt-out; the intercalated BSc MBBS is taken between Stages 2 and 3 of the GPEP (A102) students may choose to opt-out of the intercalated BSc programme or may choose to undertake this opportunity if desired.

Outcome of the programme

On successful completion of the course you will receive your MBBS (or equivalent) degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles you to apply for provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC), subject only to its acceptance that there are no Fitness to Practise concerns that need consideration. Provisional registration is time limited to a maximum of three years and 30 days (1125 days in total). After this time period your provisional registration will normally expire.

Provisionally registered doctors can only practise in approved Foundation Year 1 posts. To obtain a Foundation Year 1 post you will need to apply during the final year of your undergraduate programme through the UK Foundation Programme Office selection scheme, which allocates these posts to graduates on a competitive basis. Generally all suitably qualified UK graduates are allocated a place on Foundation Year 1.

On successful completion of Foundation Year 1 you will be eligible to apply for full registration with the GMC. You need full registration with a licence to practice for unsupervised medical practice in the NHS or private practice in the UK.

Although this information is currently correct, you should be aware that regulations in this area may change from time to time.

Teaching

We will provide you with high-level teaching from experts, which you will put into practice on your placements.

Stage

Lectures, seminars & similar

Placement

Self-study time

2

(years 1 and 2)

58% including small group and case-based teaching in clinical blocks

41%

1%

3

(years 3 and 4)

8% including small group and case-based teaching in clinical blocks

81%

11%

Typically, one credit represents 10 notional hours of learning.

Assessment

Assessment is split between that which is formative (where the primary role is to give feedback to student, this does not contribute towards the overall module/degree score) and summative (where the primary role is to demonstrate competence against course standards and learning outcomes). Formative assessment occurs through the years.

Summative assessment includes:

• Portfolio-based summative assessment continues throughout the course in preparation for professional life

• Progress (written) tests in Stage 2 and Stage 3

• OSCEs (formative mid-stage, summative end- of-stage) in Stages 2 and 3

• Project assessment

There are two external assessments in Stage 3, that are necessary to support your Foundation Year 1 training, but it is not essential to pass these in order to graduate from the MBBS course.

The GMC has decided to introduce a Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) from 2022 to demonstrate that those who obtain registration with a licence to practise medicine in the UK meet a common threshold for safe practice. Applicants should be aware that to obtain registration with a licence to practise, medical students will need to pass both parts of the MLA, pass university finals and demonstrate their fitness to practise.

Course accreditation

Accredited by the General Medical Council (GMC), this Primary Medical Qualification entitles the holder to apply to the GMC for registration to practise medicine in the UK.

Regulating body

King’s College London is regulated by the Officer for Students

Location

You will learn in a wide variety of hospital and community care settings. Students undertake placements at general practices and district general hospitals located in south London and south east England, currently they are mostly in Kent and Sussex. Placements outside of London offer a different and rich perspective on clinical learning, complementing the experiences gained in central London hospitals.

Unless there are exceptional circumstances, all students will experience placements at London and peripheral sites during their programme.

Other related courses:

• Medicine Graduate/Professional Entry Programme MBBS

• Medicine

• Extended Medical Degree Programme MBBS

• Dentistry BDS

• Dentistry Graduate/Professional Entry Programme BDS

• Dentistry Entry Programme for Medical Graduates BDS

• Enhanced Support Dentistry Programme

Read more

Structure

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3
• Year 4
• Year 5

Year 1 Required Modules

GPEP students do not undertake Stage 1 of the five year MBBS course. Instead you will have a four-week introductory module immediately before you start Stage 2, which includes elements of the Doctor and Society and Introduction to Clinical Skills module from MBBS Stage 1.

Stage 2 – Years 1 & 2

You are required to take:

• From Science to Clinical Practice 1 (105 credits)

• From Science to Clinical Practice 2 (120 credits)

• Doctor as Teacher (30 credits)

The following required Stage 2 modules involve the opportunity to choose which area is studied in further detail:

• The Student Selected Component (SSC) is a required module within which you undertake projects or short courses in medical, scientific and non-medical subjects that you choose according to personal interest. (15 credits)

• Scholarly projects: You will undertake a scholarly project in an area of interest selected from across the multi-faculty university. (30 credits)

The Intercalated BSc must be taken between Stages 2 and 3. This is available to GPEP (A102) students but they may choose to opt out.

Year 2 Required Modules

Stage 2 – Years 1 & 2

Please refer to the year 1 tab

Year 3 Required Modules

The Intercalated BSc must be taken between Stages 2 and 3. This is available to GPEP (A102) students but they may choose to opt out.

If opting out, students will continue directly to stage 3 (see years 4 and 5) in year 3.

Year 4 Required Modules

Stage 3 - Years 4 & 5

You are required to take:

• Integrated Clinical Practice 1 (135 credits)

• Integrated Clinical Practice 2 (135 credits)

• Quality Improvement & Evidence Based Practice (30 credits)

• Elective & Global Health (30 credits)

• Transition to F1 (Foundation Year 1) (30 credits)

• Career Development Period (0 credits)

King’s College London reviews the modules offered on a regular basis to provide up-to-date, innovative and relevant programmes of study. Therefore, modules offered may change. We suggest you keep an eye on the course finder on our website for updates.

Year 5

Stage 3 – Years 4 & 5

Please refer to the year 4 tab