University home > Unit and programme catalogues in 2022/23 > Programme catalogue > Faculty of Health Sciences > Bristol Medical School > Medicine (MBChB) > Specification
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Programme code | 8MDYF001U |
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Programme type | Conjoined Degree |
Programme director(s) |
Eugene Lloyd
Karen Forbes |
Faculty | Faculty of Health Sciences |
School/department | Bristol Medical School |
Teaching institution | University of Bristol |
Awarding institution | University of Bristol |
Accrediting types: |
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. (http://www.gmc-uk.org/) |
Mode of study | Full Time |
Programme length | 5 years (full time) |
This section sets out why studying this programme is important, both in terms of inspiring you as an individual and in considering the challenges we face. It describes how this degree programme contributes to:
Specifically the programme will develop the student in the domains of Doctor as Scholar and Scientist, Practitioner and Professional as set out in the GMC standards, Outcomes for Graduates. Additionally we will develop students as Citizens and Agents of Change. Students will learn in a research-rich environment and will be encouraged to develop their scientific curiosity through self-directed learning. The importance of the population perspective and of preventative healthcare will be emphasised throughout the curriculum.
Bristol graduates will possess all the core competences, knowledge and practical skills to enable them to enter the workplace as safe, effective and compassionate practitioners. Through recognition and fostering of their individual talents, they will contribute to the wealth and diversity of the medical workforce. Learning opportunities will foster students’ abilities to be adaptable, resilient and able to deal with uncertainty.
The learning outcome statements shown below for your programme have been developed with reference to relevant national subject benchmarks (where they exist), national qualification descriptors (see the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications) and professional body requirements.
Teaching, learning and assessment strategies are listed to show how you will be able to achieve and demonstrate the learning outcomes.
This programme provides opportunities for you to develop and demonstrate knowledge and understanding, qualities, skills and other attributes in the following areas:
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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The principle vehicle of learning will be case-based teaching scaffolded by lectures, workshops and practical sessions. Cases will build in complexity throughout the course from principles of health to dealing with uncertainty and patients with multiple illnesses. All learning opportunities will have explicit clinical relevance to life and practice as a doctor, underpinned by clinical experience in hospital and community settings throughout all five years. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Formative assessment will be based on self-reflection, feedback from peers and from clinical and academic teachers backed up by regular educational supervision and feedback with an academic mentor. Progress tests will be taken three times a year. These will be based on the same format and standards as the final clinical examination. A final exam at the end of years 1, 3 and 4 will determine progression to the following year. Assessment in year 5 (clinical clerkships & preparing for practice) will be carried out using workplace based assessments modelled on the current Foundation Doctor programme. |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Case-based learning supplemented by clinical learning in hospital and community settings, including primary care. Effective Consulting horizontal theme running through years 1-3, including consultation, clinical examination, communication and diagnostic skills and clinical reasoning. Scientific basis of medicine underpinning case-based learning will progress from ‘how it works’ to ‘application of scientific knowledge to interpretation of clinical tests’. Helical themes strategy will ensure all clinical competencies are embedded throughout the curriculum and have clear, progressive learning outcomes culminating in skills being embedded into practice. Interprofessional learning with nursing students (UWE) and pharmacy students (Bath) focused on human factors and avoidance of patient harm. Evidence-based medicine is one of the helical themes. Students will have the opportunity to pursue their interests and extend their learning in a variety of topics through the Choice programme. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Students will maintain an electronic portfolio of their achievements; this will include a log of practical procedures completed. Multi-source feedback from patients, peers and healthcare professionals. Clinical practical assessments e.g. workplace based assessments in the final year based around Entrustable Professional Activities EPAs (Association of American Medical Colleges, 2014) www.aamc.org/cepaer |
Programme Intended Learning Outcomes | Learning/teaching methods and strategies |
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Professional modelling will be enhanced by clinical clerkships in year 5 and feedback on professional behaviours and attitudes. Helical themes will explicitly include aspects of self-improvement, self-care and resilience. The programme will have blocks of learning that cover: transition from school to university, managing expectations and becoming a self-directed learner & transition to the healthcare environment, including expectations of professional behaviour. |
Methods of assessment (formative and summative) | |
Many of these skills and attributes will be assessed through self-reflection and feedback (peer, multi-source and clinical teachers). Workplace based assessments in the later years of the course. Elements will be included in progress and summative assessments by ensuring helical themes are explicitly assessed. |
This section describes what is expected from you at each level of your programme. This illustrates increasing intellectual standards as you progress through the programme. These levels are mapped against the national level descriptors published by the Quality Assurance Agency.
Level C/4 - Certificate |
Year 1 Students will learn about the Foundations of Medicine, including how to develop as a self-directed learner, manage expectations, and work in a team as well as the principles of biomedical sciences. All students will have experience of the healthcare environment through training and practice as a healthcare assistant. Case-based learning, supported by lectures, practical sessions and workshops in the biomedical sciences will be used to learn about how the body systems work in health using an integrated approach incorporating biomedical and clinical science. Effective Consulting will introduce concepts of health, disease and diagnosis from clinical, ethical, pathological, societal, historical and patient perspectives. Patient contact will take place through community visits, including GP practices. All students will be taught basic life support and first aid skills by senior students. Students will complete their first Choice project. |
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Level I/5 - Intermediate |
Year 2 Case-based learning and associated lectures, practicals and workshops will be used to learn about the nervous system and psychology. Concepts of disease are introduced by building on the systems-oriented cases in year 1 to a symptom-based approach to consider disease processes and differential diagnosis. This will be complemented by live-streaming and recordings of post mortem examinations. Students will be introduced to the basic principles of pharmacology and clinical therapeutics. Community visits will involve meeting patients with chronic disorders, such as dementia, kidney failure and cancer, to find out what it’s like to live with these conditions. Intermediate clinical reasoning will begin to introduce to students how to receive a history from a patient and perform a physical and mental state examination leading to the formulation of a list of differential diagnoses for common symptoms. Students will continue to develop their Choice portfolio through project work. |
Level H/6 - Honours |
Year 3 This year is structured around Junior Clinical Clerkships in clinical specialties. Teaching takes place in the Clinical Academies that are part of Bristol Medical School. Students will gain experience of unscheduled prehospital care through attachments with general practitioners and paramedics. Case-based learning will continue to ensure that core topics are covered by all students. Biomedical Science teaching will continue to be delivered through CBL. Advanced clinical reasoning will cover rational approaches to investigations, therapeutics and prescribing. Students will learn about the ethical, regulatory and legal frameworks governing clinical practice, including safeguarding vulnerable groups. Students continue to develop practical procedural skills. All students will learn about basic research methods and will complete a research/audit/quality improvement project as part of their Choice portfolio. Intercalation Intercalation to study for an honours BSc, BA, or master’s degree will usually be taken between years 3 and 4. Release from the MBChB to intercalate may be subject to competitive application, which will be based on performance and engagement in years 1-3. The number of available intercalation places will vary year on year depending on the size of the cohort. Year 4 Year 4 will consider the lifecycle based around intermediate clinical clerkships in relevant specialties: Primary care and community attachments will take place at least one day per week throughout the year to give students experience of undifferentiated presentations and dealing with uncertainty. Case based learning will continue to ensure all core topics are covered including Biomedical Science and Helical Themes. Students will sit their final knowledge examinations at the end of year 4. Students will also sit clinical practical assessments. Year 5 Year 5 will start with an elective period of study as part of our student choice portfolio. The remainder of the year will be spent in longitudinal clinical clerkships in Acute and Critical Care, Ward-Based Care, and Primary and Community Care. During these, the student will act as a member of the healthcare team and will expect to embed into practice the clinical skills that they have learned throughout the course. Students will complete their clinical skills log and their portfolio of reflective practice. Students will complete a patient safety and quality improvement project during their clinical clerkship. Peer-to-peer teaching will be encouraged through student engagement in developing clinical cases for their junior colleagues. Assessments will be workplace based using entrustable professional activities (EPAs) www.aamc.org/cepaer, e.g. case based discussions and mini CEX's. |
For information on the admissions requirements for this programme please see details in the undergraduate prospectus at http://www.bristol.ac.uk/prospectus/undergraduate/ or contact the relevant academic department.
UG Workload Statement
Success as an undergraduate student depends on you being able to make the transition to self-motivated, independent learning. Programmes are designed to assist you in this development, in many cases by starting with units in which timetabled teaching, such as lectures and practical classes, provides the foundations of knowledge and skills in a subject, moving on to individual research-based work. Over time you will be expected to take increasing responsibility for your own learning, guided by the feedback on your work that you will receive. At the heart of your studies at every level there must be regular and disciplined individual reading, reflection and writing and it is this skill of independent studies, above all others, that will serve you best when you leave the University.
Most programmes use credits and a 20 credit unit broadly equates to about 200 hours of student input. This includes all activities related to the teaching, learning and assessment of taught units.
A component of this is the time that you spend in class, in contact with the teaching staff, which includes activities such as lectures, laboratories, tutorials and fieldwork. Some of this activity may be online and could consist of activity that is synchronous (using real-time environments such as Blackboard Collaborate) or asynchronous (using tools such as tutor moderated discussion forums, blogs or wikis).
In some programmes there are field courses and/or placements that will take place in concentrated periods of time.
Outside scheduled activities you are expected to pursue your own independent learning to build your knowledge and understanding of the subjects you are studying. Such independent activities include, reviewing lecture material, reading textbooks, working on examples sheets, completing coursework, writing up laboratory notes, preparing for in-class progress tests and revising for examinations.
We recognise that many students undertake paid employment. To achieve a sensible balance between work and study, you are advised to undertake paid work for no more than 15 hours per week in term-time.
Professional Programmes
Many undergraduates in the Faculty of Health Sciences will be following the professional programmes of:
For these professional programmes, full time attendance is compulsory unless absence is formally approved. Academic activities are timetabled throughout the 5-day week and student workload is around 40 hours per week on average. Where possible, students in the early years are permitted Wednesday afternoons for sport and extra-curriculum activities. This may not be available in later years of professional programmes as when a student progresses through the curricula there is an increasing exposure to clinical and professional activities. Students in clinic or on placements may need to stay later than core times of 08.00 – 18.00 or even overnight to observe out-of-hours activities. This increasing exposure to clinical activities means that students on these professional programmes often have longer term dates than the University standard. Individual years within programmes are likely to vary in length (for example because of the timings of placements) and further information on this will be found in individual programme regulations. Another important point to note is that many of the assessments sit outside of the standard University examination timetable and are likely to be more frequent meaning that students will more oftentimes be engaged in revision activities and self-directed learning.
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty Assessment and Feedback Statement for Undergraduate Students. University of Bristol access only.
The University of Bristol’s Medical Academy model enable students to work in different hospital and community settings supported by a local medical school infrastructure.
Students can also apply for an additional, intercalated year of study (usually between years 3 & 4) from a wide range of topics, leading to the award of a BSc or BA (honours) or a master’s degree. Release from the MBChB to intercalate may be subject to competitive application, which will be based on performance and engagement in years 1-3. The number of available intercalation places will vary year on year depending on the size of the cohort.
Opportunities to study abroad are available through an elective period of study that may be spent abroad in year 5.
All students will complete the national Prescribing Safety Assessment prior to graduation.
The GMC plans to introduce a National Licensing Exam by 2022
http://www.bristol.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/2017/medicine/mb-medicine/
Dr Eugene Lloyd, Programme Director
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Year 1 MB ChB | MEDI10007 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Foundations of Medicine | MEDI10008 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 1 - Musculoskeletal | MEDI10009 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 2 - Cardiovascular | MEDI10010 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 3 - Respiratory | MEDI10011 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 4 - Gastrointestinal | MEDI10012 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 5 - Urinary | MEDI10014 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 6 - Nervous System & Psychology | MEDI10013 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Systems Case 7 - Endocrine | MEDI10015 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Certificate of Higher Education | 0 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Year 2 MB ChB | BRMS20001 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Student Choice Project 1 | BRMS20003 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Effective Consulting Clerkship | BRMS20002 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 1 - Skin and Integument | BRMS20004 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 2 - Body Defence | BRMS20005 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 3 - Introduction to Pharmacology and Therapeutics | BRMS20006 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 4 - Anaemia, Blood and Clotting | BRMS20007 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 5 - Low Mood | BRMS20008 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 6 - Chest Pain | BRMS20009 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 7 - Breathlessness | BRMS20010 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 8 - Abdominal Pain | BRMS20011 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 9 - Joint (including Back) Pain | BRMS20015 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 10 - Urinary Symptoms, Thirst and Weight Loss | BRMS20012 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 11 - Headache | BRMS20013 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
CBL case 12 - Collapse | BRMS20014 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Diploma in Higher Education | 0 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Year 3 MB ChB | BRMS30001 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Year 3 OSCE | BRMS30006 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Year 3 Written Exam | BRMS30005 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Student Choice Project 2 | BRMS30008 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
0 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Year 4 MB ChB | BRMS30002 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Year 4 OSCE | BRMS30004 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Year 4 Written Exam | BRMS30007 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
0 |
Unit Name | Unit Code | Credit Points | Status | |
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Year 5 MB ChB | BRMS30015 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Elective SSC | MEDI35110 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Final year Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) | BRMS30003 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Prescribing Safety Assessment | MEDI30012 | 0 | Mandatory | AYEAR |
Medicine (MBChB) | 0 |
Unit Pass Mark for Professional Programmes (MBChB, BDS, BVSc): 50 out of 100
For detailed rules on progression please see the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes and the relevant faculty handbook.
Please refer to the specific progression/award requirements for Gateway programmes.
All undergraduate degree programmes allow the opportunity for a student to exit from a programme with a Diploma or Certificate of Higher Education.
Integrated Master's degrees may also allow the opportunity for a student to exit from the programme with an equivalent Bachelor's degree where a student has achieved 360 credit points, of which 90 must be at level 6, and has successfully met any additional criteria as described in the programme specification.
The opportunities for a student to exit from one of the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry with an Award is outlined in the relevant Programme Regulations (which are available as an annex in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes).
The pass mark for the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine and Dentistry is 50 out of 100. The classification of a degree in the professional programmes in Veterinary Science, Medicine, and Dentistry is provided in the Regulations and Code of Practice for Taught Programmes.
Please note: This specification provides a concise summary of the main features of the programme and the learning outcomes that a typical student might reasonably be expected to achieve and demonstrate if he/she takes full advantage of the learning opportunities that are provided.
University of Bristol,
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Tel: +44 (0)117 928 9000