Choosing a Medical School
How to choose the right medical school
Deciding which of the 34 medical schools in the UK to apply for can be a difficult decision for an international student, with factors such as course type, ranking, reputation, location and cost all needing to be considered.
Choosing a medical school: Course type
- Traditional courses are taught through lectures, seminars and tutorials for the first 2 years, before students move into practical and clinical work for the following 3 years. For pre-clinical study, teaching covers areas such as anatomy, physiology, pharmacology and pathology and each block is taught as a separate course. The clinical stage will see students work at hospitals as a student doctor.
- Integrated courses differ as lecture and seminar based work is taught alongside clinical studies of the same area, meaning you will begin clinical work from the very beginning of your programme. This type of course is recommended by the General Medical Council.
- Problem based learning courses are unique and fewer UK medical schools offer them. Small groups of no more than ten students are presented with a problem and a virtual patient as the case study. The group will then be guided by a facilitator and have to present their hypothesis at a later date. Medical schools in the UK that offer this style of course include Liverpool, Sheffield and Queen Mary.
Choosing a medical school: Competitive entry
Medicine is one of the most competitive courses in the world to secure a place on and, according to UCAS, in 2012 there were 82,489 application to UK medical schools with only 7,805 places available. Doing your research and looking into each programme and medical school is of huge importance when selecting the right location to study.
Faultless academic results are required, while experience is looked upon greatly by the applications board. If your grades fall short of the entry requirements, many medical schools provide foundation programmes if they believe you have the required ability to succeed.
Medical schools in the UK
- University of Aberdeen School of Medicine and Dentistry
- Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry
- University of Birmingham College of Medical and Dental Sciences
- Brighton and Sussex Medical School
- University of Bristol Medical School
- University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine
- Cardiff University School of Medicine
- University of Dundee School of Medicine
- University of Edinburgh Medical School
- University of Exeter Medical School
- University of Glasgow School of Medicine
- Hull York Medical School
- Imperial College London Faculty of Medicine
- Keele University School of Medicine
- King's College London GKT School of Medical Education
- Lancaster University Medical School
- University of Leeds School of Medicine
- University of Leicester Medical School
- University of Liverpool School of Medicine
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
- University of Manchester Medical School
- Newcastle University School of Medical Education
- Norwich Medical School
- University of Nottingham School of Medicine
- University of Oxford Medical Sciences Division
- Plymouth University Peninsula Schools of Medicine and Dentistry
- Queen's University Belfast School of Medicine
- University of Sheffield Medical School
- University of Southampton School of Medicine
- University of St Andrews School of Medicine
- St George's, University of London
- Swansea University Medical School
- University College London Medical School
- University of Warwick Medical School
Applying to study medicine in the UK
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