Medicine (A100) course outline

• Pre–Clinical Studies
  • Years 1 and 2
  • Year 3
• Clinical Studies
  • Stage 1: Clinical Method
  • Stage 2: The Life Course
  • Stage 3: Preparation for Practice
  • The MB PhD programme
  • Postgraduate Foundation Programmes

Pre–Clinical Studies

Years 1 and 2

In the first two years, you study medically relevant core scientific knowledge and skills as well as the clinical context within which these are set in the Medical and Veterinary Sciences Tripos (MVST). The main areas of learning in the MVST are covered by courses in:

• Functional Architecture of the Body – involving examining and dissecting the human body, and includes living anatomy, and the use of modern imaging techniques
• Homeostasis – covering the physiological systems which underpin the body's regulation of its internal environment and its responses to external threats. You also have related practical classes in experimental physiology and histology
• Molecules in Medical Science – looking at the molecular basis of how cells and organisms work
• Biology of Disease – dealing with the nature and mechanisms of disease processes
• Mechanisms of Drug Action – providing an understanding of the basic mechanisms of drug action at the levels of both drug–receptor interactions and the effects on body systems
• Neurobiology and Human Behaviour – covering the structure and function of the sense organs and central nervous system, the effects of drugs on brain function, and various psychological aspects
• Human Reproduction – looking at the biology of human reproduction, its social context, and its influence on demographic trends

The clinical strand of the MVST involves:

• Introduction to the Scientific Basis of Medicine – studying epidemiology and how it's applied in medicine
• Social Context of Health and Illness – an introduction to the perspective of medical practice in Britain, working with patients and colleagues, both in hospital and in the community
• Principles of Medical Ethics
• Preparing for Patients – which involves meeting patients in general practice (Year 1), in a hospital setting (Year 2), and through visiting community–based health–related agencies (Years 2 and 3)

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Year 3

You choose to specialise in one of a wide range of other subjects offered by the University to qualify for the BA degree (sometimes referred to by other universities as intercalation). Options include:

• Part II Biological and Biomedical Sciences in Natural Sciences, which offers a large range of subjects, including:
  • Pathology
  • Physiology
  • Zoology
  • History and Ethics of Medicine
• a single subject from Part II of Natural Sciences
• a subject less obviously related to medicine, such as Anthropology, Management Studies or Philosophy

Preparing for Patients continues in your third year, regardless of which subject you choose to study. During this year you follow a woman and her family through her pregnancy.

On successful completion of the Pre–Clinical Course you graduate with a BA degree.

About half of Cambridge medical students then continue their Clinical Studies at the Cambridge Clinical School, based at Addenbrooke’s Hospital; the remainder go to other clinical schools, usually in Oxford or London.

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Clinical Studies

The three–year Clinical Course is based at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. As well as being a tertiary hospital with an international reputation for medical excellence, Addenbrooke's is the site of several major biomedical research institutions. You also spend time in other Regional Partner NHS Trust hospitals throughout East Anglia and in teaching general practices both in Cambridge and the surrounding region.

In the Clinical Course, you build on your biomedical science education; developing the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to practise clinical medicine. Following an Introductory Course, the curriculum consists of three Stages, each with its own focus and built around a number of major themes, including:

• communication skills, patient investigation and practical procedures
• therapeutics and patient management
• core science, pathology and clinical problems
• evaluation and research
• personal and professional development
• the multi–professional workplace

During the Clinical Course you have small–group 'clinical supervisions' from junior doctors to ensure that you acquire and maintain the requisite clinical skills.

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Stage 1: Clinical Method

During Stage 1 you become proficient in basic clinical methods such as:

• history–taking
• physical examination
• differential diagnosis
• ordering and interpretation of basic investigations

Clinical attachments are linked to teaching in primary care to allow you a breadth of clinical experience.

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Stage 2: The Life Course

You study the major causes of ill health, disease and its prevention throughout the human lifespan.

• Periods spent in paediatrics, women's health, cardio–thoracic medicine, oncology, ageing and degenerative diseases, and psychiatry are linked by a record of longitudinal patient attachments collected in a portfolio.
• Experience in primary and community care related to each part of the course enhances understanding of the range of disease presentation and management, and the patient perspective of healthcare delivery.

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Stage 3: Preparation for Practice

Stage 3 focuses on equipping you with the knowledge, skills and attitudes you need to practise independently, and consists of attachments in:

• general practice
• medicine
• surgery
• emergency medicine
• acute care

There are also opportunities to undertake Student–Selected Components and an elective period of study.

On successful completion of the course you're awarded two degrees, the Bachelor of Medicine and the Bachelor of Surgery (MB, BChir). Graduates are entitled to hold provisional registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) with a license to practice, subject to demonstrating to the GMC that their fitness to practise is not impaired. To achieve full registration as a doctor, you need to complete a two–year period of satisfactory service in a Foundation Programme post and demonstrate that you continue to be fit to practice medicine.

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The MB PhD programme

This programme enables students who are planning a career in academic medicine to intercalate three years of research with their three years of clinical training; enabling them to gain the MB, BChir and a PhD in six years. Weekly supervisions continue throughout the research period to ensure the maintenance of clinical skills.

More information can be found on the MB PhD website.

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Postgraduate Foundation Programmes

The Clinical School works closely with the Eastern Postgraduate Deanery to provide Foundation Programmes as the first part of postgraduate education. During your Foundation Programme, usually at the end of Year 1, you receive full registration with the GMC provided that you can demonstrate that you are fit to practice medicine.

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