BMBS Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery

• Benefit from close relationships with our principal NHS partners – University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, Taunton & Somerset NHS Foundation Trust and local General Practices – who have helped develop the course and provide wide-ranging placement opportunities
• Learn from real patients from the outset, with clinical placements starting in the first two weeks of Year 1. 
• Ensure your learning is always current and follows best practice, through the internationally renowned research that constantly feeds into our teaching, to reflect today’s dynamic healthcare delivery environment.
• Take part in expert-led discussions around clinical case studies and the latest medical science breakthroughs, through our Structured Small Groups teaching approach, including Enquiry Based Learning. These are also a great opportunity to learn from other students’ knowledge and experience.
• Practise your clinical and communication skills in the safe setting of our Clinical Skills Resource Centre (CSRC), which features specially designed replicas of hospital wards and emergency rooms, with high-specification patient-simulators.
• Develop your leadership and management skills, essential for effective teamwork and for ensuring high quality patient care.
• Utilise online systems to support your learning including the student logbook, custom-made for our students to access lecture notes, online assessment systems and lecture sessions. 
• Deepen your understanding of the structure and functionality of the human body with our Life Sciences Resource Centre (LSRC), which includes radiographic imaging and expert-led life science sessions.
• Choose the subjects that most interest you to study in-depth and build your own interests, specialisms, and research, scientific and analytical skills over the five years of your degree with our Special Study Units (SSUs). There are over 200 to choose from – see a sample list of current SSU titles.
• See how clinical medicine or research is practised in different social and cultural contexts in other parts of the South West, UK or the world, and further your experience through our elective opportunities.
• Explore another discipline at degree level – from history of medicine to music, psychology to statistics – through our Intercalated degrees programme. Our BSc (Hons) Urgent and Emergency Care – developed with local emergency department/consultants, is a unique opportunity in the UK to work in and learn about the area of emergency care alongside your medical degree. External intercalation opportunities are also available.
  
• All students will spend Years 1 and 2 in Plymouth. In Years 3-5, students will spend at least one year either in Torbay, Taunton or Plymouth, and rotate around these sites. Travel to GP practices from these main hospital sites will also be required. 

We’re very proud of our National Student Survey (NSS) 2020 return showing an overall course satisfaction of 86 per cent and 94 per cent of students agreed that the course is intellectually stimulating*. 

• Year 1

• In the first two years, you’ll learn the core scientific foundations of medicine within a clinical context. We’ve structured our curriculum around the human life cycle, so in the first year you’ll study human physical and psychological development from conception to old age. You’ll learn from real-life clinical case studies and experience healthcare in a range of community settings, meeting patients and service users, and learning from health and social care professionals.

  Core modules

  • Medical Knowledge 1 (MED410)

    This module enables students to demonstrate the integrated application of basic human and biomedical sciences at the level appropriate for a first year student

  • Clinical and Communication Skills 1 (MED411)

    This module deals with the acquisition of the basic core clinical and communication skills underpinning modern clinical practice.

  • Personal Development and Professionalism 1 (MED412)

    This module deals with personal & professional development including team working, reflection, time management, ethical practice, feedback and professional skills.

  • Student-Selected Component 1 (SSC1) (MED414)

    This module focuses on research skills. The module aims to emphasise the development and achievement of skills in: searching sources, critical evaluation, synthesis, presenting evidence, effective planning, developing research questions and problem solving.

• Year 2

• In the second year, you’ll revisit the human life cycle, this time with an emphasis on disease, pathological processes, and the human and social impact of illness and disease. You’ll do a series of placements in a single general practice, enabling you to learn about long-term health issues and see teamwork in action.

  Core modules

  • Medical Knowledge 2 (MED520)

    This module enables students to demonstrate the integrated application of basic human and biomedical sciences at the level appropriate for a second year medical student.

  • Clinical and Communication Skills 2 (MED521)

    This module deals with the further acquisition of the core clinical and communication skills underpinning modern clinical practice.

  • Personal Development and Professionalism 2 (MED522)

    This module deals with the continuing further personal and professional development including team working, reflection, time management, ethical practice, feedback and professional skills.

  • Student-Selected Component 2 (SSC2) (MED524)

    This module focuses on research skills in addition it evaluates the role of doctors as educators. The module aims to emphasise the development and achievement of skills in: searching sources, critical evaluation, synthesis, presenting evidence, effective planning, developing research questions, problem solving and project management.

  Optional modules

  • Outstanding Clinical Skills (Year 2) (MED655)

    This is a zero credit weighted module for students unable to complete assessments in the 2019/20 academic year due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.

• Year 3

• In your third and fourth years, you’ll learn more about clinical practice and spend more time in a patient-centred learning environment. Completing a series of hospital and general practice-based community placements, you’ll gain valuable experience in a wide range of clinical settings and see first hand how the NHS works as a team to deliver patient care. Year three focuses on three ‘Pathways of Care’: Acute Care, Ward Care and Integrated Ambulatory Care.

  Core modules

  • Medical Knowledge 3 (MED630)

    This module deals with the further acquisition of the core knowledge of the sciences underpinning clinical practice.

  • Clinical and Professional Development 1 (MED631)

    This module deals with the further acquisition of the core clinical skills and professional behaviours underpinning modern patient centred clinical practice and their application within a real clinical setting.

  • Student Selected Component 3 (MED634)

    This module further develops students’ written and verbal communication as well as research and critical thinking skills. In addition, it evaluates the role of doctors as advocates for health and wellbeing. The module aims to emphasise the development and achievement of skills in: communication, project management, technological application, patient and public engagement.

  Optional modules

  • Outstanding Clinical Skills (Year 3) (MED656)

    This is a zero credit weighted module for students unable to complete assessments in the 2019/20 academic year due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.

• Year 4

• You’ll continue working and learning in hospital and general practice settings, further developing your communication, clinical, problem-solving and analytical skills. The three ‘Pathways of Care’ continue in year four with a focus on: Acute Care, Palliative Care/ Oncology and Continuing Care.

  Core modules

  • Medical Knowledge 4 (MED640)

    This module deals with the further acquisition of the core knowledge of the sciences underpinning clinical practice.

  • Clinical and Professional Development 2 (MED641)

    This module deals with the further acquisition and refinement of the core clinical skills and professional behaviours underpinning modern patient centred clinical practice and their application within a real clinical setting.

  • Student Selected Component 4 (MED644)

    This module focuses on team skills and self-evaluation. There are two equally weighted and equivalent coursework summative assessments, encompassing both the study and practice of teamwork.

  Optional modules

  • Outstanding Clinical Skills (Year 4) (MED657)

    This is a zero credit weighted module for students unable to complete assessments in the 2019/20 academic year due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.

• Final year

• You’ll now be all set to apply the knowledge, skills and confidence you’ve acquired over the first four years by working ‘on the job’, as part of a healthcare team in action, based in either Derriford or Torbay hospital. You’ll become more assured when dealing with clinical situations, and develop an in-depth understanding of the principles of practice in the NHS. Supplementing your independent learning with a portfolio of indicative presentations, you’ll also have the opportunity to do an elective in a different social or cultural context.

  Core modules

  • Medical Knowledge 5 (MED650)

    This module deals with the further acquisition of the core knowledge of the sciences underpinning clinical practice.

  • Clinical and Professional Practice (MED651)

    This module enables students to demonstrate their clinical and professional ability to carry out clinical procedures, investigations , analysis and interpretation of evidence and production of a clinical management plan for a range of core acute and chronic conditions. It will include demonstration of a professional and ethical approach to clinical practice, working in a patient centred manner and as part of a multi disciplinary team in the delivery of health care within the NHS.

  • Student Selected Component 5 (MED654)

    This module builds on and refines skills in independent learning, team working and critical thinking through the planning and execution of an elective period of study of the student's own design.

  Optional modules

  • Outstanding Clinical Skills (Year 5) (MED658)

    This is a zero credit weighted module for students unable to complete assessments in the 2019/20 academic year due to the disruption caused by COVID-19.

Every undergraduate taught course has a detailed programme specification document describing the course aims, the course structure, the teaching and learning methods, the learning outcomes and the rules of assessment.

The following programme specification represents the latest course structure and may be subject to change:

Bachelor of Medicine Bachelor Surgery Programme Spec 21 22 4601

In order to meet the academic requirements for this programme, you must have one of the following combinations of qualifications:

• GCSE, A Levels and UCAT
• GAMSAT
• A Levels and stage 1 of either Biomedical Science or Human Biosciences with the University of Plymouth.
• A degree programme through the University of Plymouth School of Biomedical Sciences.

View our entry requirements

Please note that we are unable to accept applications from international students for 2023 entry.

The UCAS code for the Faculty of Health is P60 PLYM.

General Medical Council 

Information for applicants

At the end of the undergraduate course you will receive your BMBS degree, which is a primary medical qualification (PMQ). Holding a PMQ entitles you to provisional registration with the General Medical Council, 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: the law does not allow provisionally registered doctors to undertake any other type of work. To obtain a Foundation Year 1 post you will need to apply during the final year of your undergraduate course through the UK Foundation Programme Office selection scheme, which allocates these posts to graduates on a competitive basis. So far, all suitably qualified UK graduates have found a place on the Foundation Year 1 programme, but this cannot be guaranteed, for instance if there were to be an increased number of competitive applications from non-UK graduates.

Successful completion of the Foundation Year 1 programme is normally achieved within 12 months and is marked by the award of a Certificate of Experience. You will then be eligible to apply for full registration with the General Medical Council. You need full registration with a licence to practise for unsupervised medical practice in the NHS or private practice in the UK.

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

Medical Licensing Assessment

The GMC has decided to introduce a Medical Licensing Assessment (MLA) to demonstrate that those who obtain registration with a licence to practise medicine in the UK meet a common threshold for safe practice. The requirement to have passed the MLA will apply to UK students entering their final year in autumn 2023 for graduation in 2024 and after. 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.

The MLA will be in two parts: there will be a knowledge test, which will be set and run by the GMC, and an assessment, delivered by medical schools, that will evaluate students’ clinical and professional skills.

Find out more about the MLA