Medical school in the United Kingdom

src: www.ncl.ac.uk

In the UK, medical school generally refers to a department within the university involved in the education of future medical practitioners. All the leading medical schools in the UK are funded by the state and its core purpose is to train doctors on behalf of the National Health Service. Courses generally last five or six years: two years of pre-clinical training in an academic environment and three years of clinical training in educational and community hospitals. Medical schools and teaching hospitals are highly integrated. The study program is extended to six years if an interconnected degree is taken in a related subject.

Video Medical school in the United Kingdom

Reception

In the UK students generally start medical school after secondary education. This is different from the US and Canadian systems (outside of Quebec), where an undergraduate degree is required for admission to medical school. Admission to UK medical school is very competitive.

Apps

Applications for admission to medical school (similar to other university courses) are conducted through the University and College Admissions Service (UCAS). UCAS allows four applications per applicant for drugs, compared to the usual five. The remaining can be emptied, or used to enroll non-medical courses.

Most medical schools in the UK now require applicants to take additional entrance tests such as UKCAT (as required by 26 universities) and the Biomedical Admissions Test (BMAT) (required by 5 universities).

The number of available medical school sites has risen by 3,500 since 1998. There are national quotas imposed on a number of places for students for medical and dental programs in the UK due to the many training that needs to be done in the health care setting. In 2016, a place in medical school is offered through the clearing process for the first time, with St George's, the University of London opening venue to a five-year undergraduate medical program.

UCAS's personal statement gives applicants the opportunity to write about why they are suitable for drugs. Personal statements are reviewed by the university admissions board and applicants who are deeply tested and with good personal statements will be called for interviews.

Interview

Interviews for medicine differ between universities. The majority of applicants for medical school interviews use traditional interviews or Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format. The Oxford and Cambridge medical schools have their own distinct interview ways with focus on science questions and other medical schools also using group assignments to assess applicants.

Traditional

Traditional medical interviews consist of 2-4 interviewers sitting across the table from the candidates. Interviewers take turns asking questions to candidates and assessing their responses on a Likert scale. Interview lasts between 15-30 minutes. Questions cover the various criteria desired to be possessed by future doctors.

Multiple Mini-Interview (MMI)

Developed at McMaster University Medical School in Canada in 2004, the MMI format assessed candidates as they passed the selection of 'mini' interview stations similar to the OSCE medical school. 1-2 interviewers assess the candidates in each station and each station is focused on the specific skills a doctor wants. Criteria assessed at each station may include:

• Reason app to learn medicine
• Effect of work experience
• Donations to schools and communities
• Academic and intelligence skills
• Knowledge of medical courses and careers
• Descriptive Skills
• Dexterity
• Empathy
• Communication skills
• Initiatives and coping with the pressure
• reasoning skill and troubleshooting
• Teamwork skills

Maps Medical school in the United Kingdom

Given Degrees

After successfully completing the clinical training of graduate students as a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, abbreviated as

• 'MB ChB' for Aberdeen, Aston, Birmingham, Bristol, Buckingham, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Keele, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield
• 'MB ChB' for Warwick requires a first degree;
• 'MB BS' for current or former schools of the University of London (School of Medicine GTC King's College London, Barts and London School of Medicine, St George's, UCL Medical School) as well as Norwich School of Medicine, Hull School York Medicine, Imperial College Medical School, Central Lancashire University, and Newcastle University.
• 'MB BCh' for Cardiff;
• 'MB BCh' for Swansea requires a first degree;
• 'BM BCh' for Oxford,
• 'BM BS' for Nottingham University, Peninsula Medical School, and Brighton-Sussex,
• 'BMBS' for Southampton,
• 'MB BChir' for Cambridge.
• Queen's University Belfast awarded the title 'MB BCh BAO' (BAO is a Bachelor of the Art of Obstetrics).
• The University of St Andrews offers BSc or BSc pre-clinical (Hons) with subsequent entries either to Manchester, Barts, Glasgow, Dundee, Edinburgh or Aberdeen for Clinical Teaching and MB ChB/subsequent equivalents

src: upload.wikimedia.org

Course type

Broadly speaking, undergraduate medical education in England can be considered along two continuum:

• The teaching method is one continuum - where problem based learning is one extreme, and lecture-based learning is another extreme.
• Course structure - where clear clarity of pre-clinical/clinical division is an extreme, and integrated curriculum will completely be the other extreme.

These two things can be combined in different ways to form different types of courses, and in fact some medical schools are in the extreme position of both axes but occupy the middle ground.

Teaching Method

Problem-based learning

Problem-based learning (PBL) is a principle based on the educational philosophy of the French educator CÃÆ' Â © lestin Freinet in 1920, and is used in many fields of study including medicine. It was first developed in conjunction with medical education at McMaster University Medical School in the late 1960s. It was introduced to England by the University of Manchester. This refers to the whole process, and not just for certain events (PBL tutorials).

In the UK, the focus is on PBL-tutorials conducted in small groups of about 8-10 students (though this varies with seniority and between medical schools) with tutors (or facilitators) who usually come from clinics or academic backgrounds, depending on the level of the course. There are academic, clinical or ethical scenarios, where students choose which field of study to pursue in their own time. Academics at Maastricht University develop seven steps from what should happen in the PBL process:

1. Groups read scenarios and clarify terms they do not understand
2. They define what the problem is
3. They brainstorm the possible hypothesis or explanation
4. It comes with a possible solution
5. Determine the set of learning goals they should accomplish with the next tutorial, which arises from the problem
6. Gather information to meet learning objectives - this can be in the form of personal learning or reading; attend college; holding discussions or teaching sessions with relevant "experts"; attend a round or ward clinic; interviewing the relevant patient
7. In the next tutorial, students share the information they have collected since the last tutorial, and discuss the areas where the information they get conflict - this can lead to further learning objectives if they are still unclear.

In accordance with the independent learning ethos, during the session it encouraged a shift of power from academic tutors to students in PBL groups. However, it will be seen that lectures, tutorials and clinical teaching sessions can play a role in problem-based learning - but the emphasis is on students to decide how this will enable them to meet their learning objectives. , rather than passively absorbing all information.

The introduction of the PBL in the UK coincided with a 2003 General Medical Council report, , which recommended an increase in the proportion of learning to be student-centered and self-directed. This encourages medical schools to adopt PBLs, but some medical schools have adopted other methods of improving self-learning, while others (mainly Oxford and Cambridge) always have a high proportion of student-centered and self-centered learning, and therefore do not introduce PBL. Manchester Medical School adopted a new PBL curriculum in 1994, and was followed by Liverpool Medical School and Glasgow Medical School. The Norwich Medical School, at the University of East Anglia also uses a PBL-based curriculum. Several UK medical schools made since that time have adopted problem-based learning. Brighton and Sussex Medical School has a lecture-based approach supported by small groups and self-directed work. Similarly, Imperial College London employs a large part of lecture-based teaching but uses additional teaching methods such as PBL to provide a more rounded education.

The Doctors of Tomorrow also criticized the unnecessary amount of scientific knowledge irrelevant to the clinical practice that requires students to study, which means that the curriculum was altered in other ways around the same time that the PBL was introduced in the UK. One study that criticized problem-based learning found that some medical specialists and consultants believe that PBLs can promote incomplete learning and educational blind spots; especially in anatomical and basic medical science, because of final decision making in PBL groups who rest with students. It also questions whether insufficient anatomical knowledge prepares graduates for surgery, or negatively influences the enthusiasm for incorporating particular specializations; including academic medicine, surgery, pathology and microbiology, although the reduction of anatomical teaching in all medical curricula that occurs after Tomorrow's Doctors may be partly to blame for reducing anatomical knowledge, not due to the PBL.

Studies have shown that students believe that PBL enhances the educational effects of self-study and their clinical inference ability, and despite contradictory studies, one indicates that UK graduate PRHOs believe they are better at dealing with uncertainty and knowing their personal limits. Students feel less separated from clinical medicine through PBL and thus this can increase their enthusiasm for learning.

Particularly, the university that pioneered successful problem-based learning such as the University of Montreal or McMaster itself is a prestigious institution that has a worldwide reputation for clinical and academic excellence, taking the top few percent of graduate applicants around the world. PBLs may be considered more suitable for postgraduate medical teaching, which students may benefit from existing maturity degrees and prior self-learning experiences, and may not be suitable for underprivileged students and students.

Lecture-based learning

Linguistics-based learning (LBL) consists of information delivered primarily through lectures or major seminars. This has been the main method of providing pre-clinical medical education in many medical schools in England before the introduction of Tomorrow's Doctors. Teaching is conveyed through a large teaching event in which several hundred students can attend, leading the study. Students are encouraged to conduct their own reading between lectures because the lectures will only cover the main points.

The key points in supporting LBL include that students get a chance to listen to a reputable doctor or academician, whereas a PBL tutor may be underutilized. Lecture-based learning is also much cheaper to organize, requiring fewer staff members to lecture many students at once than a large number of separate tutors needed to provide problem-based learning to small groups of eight students.

Critics of lecture-based learning include that students get less interaction with tutors and colleagues - they passively absorb information in the lecture rather than question and seek answers. Lack of interaction also means it is more difficult for the tutor to know if individual students are struggling because they will only know if the student has not understood the lecture in the exam, when it is practically overdue, whereas in problem-based learning, the tutor can judge how much each student learns based on participation students in discussions in weekly tutorials, and may be able to help students who are struggling before.

LBL has been criticized for students who 'eat tablespoons' and thus do not prepare them for future medical education, which, by necessity, is self-directed. However, most of the lecture-based curriculum involves the majority of students who make independent readings between lectures. Some also criticize lecture-based learning to charge students with information that may be irrelevant to their first year in clinical practice, but this is more related to curriculum design and subject structure than teaching methods.

Lecture-based learning and problem-based learning may involve teaching from academics who do not meet medical qualifications.

One meta-analysis has suggested that PBL education produces graduates who have no better factual or clinical knowledge than students from lecture-based courses, although in some cases graduate beliefs that they are, question whether PBL learning is just a popular trend.

Course Structure

Medical undergraduate curricula can be divided on the basis of how they integrate or separate theoretical learning in areas such as anatomy, physiology, ethics, psychology and biochemistry from clinical fields such as medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics.

Traditionally, the medical program fully shares theoretical learning, teaching itself for 2-3 years in pre-clinical courses before students continue to study their own clinical subjects for a further 3 years in clinical courses . In some cases, these are taught on different geographical sites or even separate universities, with completely separate staff for each course, sometimes with a BA or BSc award at the end of a pre-clinical course. St Andrews, Cambridge, and Oxford University are the three most traditional pre-clinical medical schools - For example, Cambridge's first year of Medical Science, tripos are divided into anatomy, biochemistry, and physiology. While there is a nominal "Preparing Patient" aspect to the course when students talk to real patients, it comprises a total of three afternoons throughout the year.

There have been moves for universities tending to integrate teaching into "system-based teaching" rather than "subject-based teaching". For example. rather than studying separate separate modules in anatomy, physiology, ethics, psychology and biochemistry, students study different modules in different body systems, eg. "heart and lungs" or "nervous system" - where they will study anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, psychology, etc. that are relevant to that system. The same is true with clinical subjects, so rather than studying "drugs" and "surgery" separately, students may have "heart" modules where they study clinical cardiology and joint cardiothoracic surgery. In some medical schools there is integration of clinical and pre-clinical subjects together - eg. the "heart" module will include heart anatomy, cardiac physiology, clinical examination, clinical cardiology, and cardiothoracic surgery being studied in one module.

Since Tomorrow's Doctors , there has been a movement in the UK to integrate clinical and non-clinical subjects together to a greater extent. This varies greatly between universities, always with an emphasis on non-clinical subjects leading to the beginning of subjects and clinical subjects towards the end. Various models are in operation. Any model can use PBL or LBL learning methods: for example Manchester has a PBL-based curriculum but strong pre-clinical/clinical separation, while Brighton and Sussex Medical School have a more integrated curriculum delivered through lecture-based programs. Many factors influence model selection, including institutional education philosophy and distance from the teaching hospital attached to the university base (much easier for universities with nearby teaching hospitals to offer integrated curriculum).

Models include:

• 2/3 2 1 (London, St Andrews, Edinburgh, Oxford, and Cambridge)
  • 2/3 years pre-clinical course in which a largely non-clinical subject is studied, with daily or half-day "initial experience" where students will visit the hospital, General Practice or visit family in their home. References to clinical knowledge applications can be made, but little interaction with patients at this stage. The exam at the end is only in pre-clinical subjects.
  • 2 years of clinical subjects studied
  • 1 year "preparing practice" in which students will consolidate knowledge, go with elective attachment, sit the final exam with final emphasis on clinical subjects
• 1 3 1
  • 1 year basic introduction to general principles of pre-clinical subjects
  • A combination of 3 years of pre-clinical and clinical teaching with a 1: 2 nonclinical ratio: a clinical subject, often taught in system-based "blocks" - eg. 4 weeks studying cardiac anatomy and physiology followed by 8 weeks studying clinical cardiology '
  • 1 year consolidating knowledge, elective attachment, final exam exam - often an integrated exam combining clinical and non-clinical trials
• 1 2 2 (e.g. Cardiff)
  • 1 year studying the basic principles of a pre-clinical subject
  • 2 years studying pre-clinical and clinical subjects with equal weight assigned to both, again in system-based blocks' eg. 6 weeks studying cardiac anatomy and physiology followed by 6 weeks studying clinical cardiology '
  • 2 years of teaching and consolidating clinical knowledge, in which time of choice and final examination will occur

Support for less-integrated courses includes the achievement of basic scientific foundations for building clinical knowledge in the coming years. However it is criticized for producing graduates with low communication skills and making the transition into clinical environments more difficult in 3 or 4 years. Support for more integrated courses includes that by allowing earlier patient interactions, the courses produce more comfortable students by communicating with patients and develop better interpersonal skills. Critics include, questioning whether students in the first year have a place in the health care environment, when actual clinical knowledge may be almost zero.

The Doctors of Tomorrow also led to the introduction of a significant student choice in the syllabus in the form of the student's chosen component.

src: i.pinimg.com

The immediate post-graduate period

After graduation, medical students enter paid jobs, as Foundation House Officers (FHO), where they will complete the first year Foundation Training . Foundation training focuses on the seven principles of the MMC training ethos: focused training participants, assessed competencies, service-based, quality assured, flexible, trained, and structured & efficient. Graduates are still a year away from getting full registration with the General Medical Council. During the year, trainees can legally only work in supervised work, as Foundation House Officer 1 (FHO1), and can not legally practice independently, and it is the responsibility of the medical school they attend to oversee this year until they fully registered with the General Medical Council. Therefore, the first year of the Foundation Program forms the final year of medical school.

Students in their final year will begin the process of applying for a job. The new system, called the UK Foundation Program, (implemented by the NHS Modernization of Medical Treatment) involves a simplified online application process, without interviews, based on matching schemes. Students rated their preferred Foundation Schools (often consisting of two or three towns). They are ranked based on the answers given on their application form, and their grades are earned in the exam during their undergraduate career, the resulting score determines which jobs students will get when they graduate. Once elected to the Foundation School, applicants are then selected into specific jobs with locally determined selection procedures by each Foundation School, which may include interviews, CV submissions or use of scores obtained in MTAS.

Previously, another online system called Multi-Deanery Application System (MDAP) was used for applications to Foundation Programs in several areas of the UK. It was criticized in the media and in several medical publications, and was replaced by the Medical Training Application System in 2006.

src: logosnegro.com

Postgraduate program

Recently, several four-year graduate schemes have been introduced in several English and Welsh medical schools covering the same range and depth of knowledge as undergraduate schemes but at a more intensive pace. Speed ​​is accelerated largely in the pre-clinical phase of the medical program, with GMC requiring a minimum number of clinical hours in the clinical phase of the medical degree.

These courses have limited amount of space and include funding after the first year, so the competition is very high. Several sources report on the territory of 60 applicants for each place because the course has become more widely known. Until recently, people over thirty were strongly discouraged from registering. Admission to these programs usually involves a competitive selection test. The most common entrance exams are GAMSAT (Australian Medical School Admission Graduate) or MSAT (School Physician Admission Test). Some schools may use existing entrance exams which should also be issued by graduate schools, for example, UKCAT or BMAT (see above).

The admission criteria for this graduate program vary between universities - some universities require the first degree of applicant to be in a science-related discipline, while others will receive a degree in any subject as proof of sufficient academic ability.

The following 16 universities offer a four-year admission program:

• University of Birmingham (requires UKCAT)
• University of Bristol
• Cambridge University (candidate can offer BMAT)
• Keele University (requires GAMSAT)
• King's College London (requires UKCAT)
• University of Leicester (last entry September 2014) (requires UKCAT)
• Liverpool University (requires GAMSAT)
• University of Newcastle (requires UKCAT)
• University of Nottingham (requires GAMSAT)
• Oxford University (requires BMAT)
• Barts and The London, Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry (requires UKCAT)
• University of Southampton (requires UKCAT)
• St George's, University of London (requires GAMSAT)
• Swansea University (requires GAMSAT)
• University of Warwick (requires UKCAT)
• Imperial College London (requires BMAT)

However, graduates are free to enroll into some regular five/six year courses. Indeed, universities offering postgraduate courses and leaving school courses often push the application into one of two types of courses, depending on the background of graduate education.

src: www.topmastersinhealthcare.com

Interconnected degrees

Some medical students spend an extra year or two in medical school (extending a five-year course to six or seven years) studying for an intercalated degree. These are additional degrees awarded in addition to their medical degree, giving students the opportunity to earn additional qualifications, and assisting student research and individual learning skills. At the end of this year or two years interspersed , students are awarded degrees, which are variously styled as BSc, BA, MSc, BMSc (Hons), BMedSci (Hons), MA, MPH, MClinEd depending on university, degree of awards, and subjects studied. Usually students complete a bachelor's degree interspersed years after completing the second or third year of their medical course. Master's degree is offered in some schools for students who have completed their fourth year of medical coursework. Higher related research masters and academic doctors are usually conducted at the end of the fifth year of the course. There is usually strong competition for funding from external agencies such as pharmaceutical companies, because such research related to intercalation degrees can be in areas where students have little long-term interest, a frequent criticism. The main benefits of an interconnected degree are increased selection for competitive training routes such as Academic Medicine or Surgery.

The way this program is applied varies across the country: sometimes an intercalated degree will be specifically for medical students (eg research projects led supervisor culminating in dissertations), while sometimes interconnected students will complete the taught courses offered into the final year of BSc or student master, or a combination of these. In some medical schools the degree of intercalation can be done on a particular subject (eg Immunology, Pathology, Cardiovascular Science, Respiratory Science, Social Medicine, Management, Medical History, Humanities, etc.), While in other medical schools there is a common curriculum for all students who are intercalated (often with some options in it).

In many medical schools, the year is an option, and a relatively small percentage of students choose to study for it. At the University of Nottingham, all students undertake research projects and dissertations under the supervision of schools within the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, leading to a BMedSci (Hons) degree in the third year. While this additional degree is specifically awarded within a five-year study period, Nottingham medical students undertake a third and fourth year which is extended to 48 weeks to achieve BMedSci and initial clinical training.

In contrast to this, all students at University College London, Imperial College London, Bute Medical School (St Andrews), Oxford University, Edinburgh University and Cambridge University studied for BSc/BA in addition to their medical degree. The five medical schools have a six-year curriculum, where students complete a three-year pre-clinical course, leading to BSc or BA, followed by a three-year clinical course, combined with BSc or BA leading to a full medical degree. The offered degrees are BA in Oxford and Cambridge (which later became MA), and BSc in the other. In these five medical schools, it is sometimes also possible to spend an optional additional year in which a person can study for an abbreviated master or doctoral degree in addition to BSc/BA accepted by all students, for example, the University of Cambridge offers a PhD MB program of total duration nine years consisting of preclinical training, intercalated BA (see above), clinical training and in the PhD clinical training period. University College London offers a PhD MB program that can be completed in just eight years of study.

Degrees are classified according to the British undergraduate degree classification system. This is taken into account in the School Foundation Application Form, where applicants are awarded additional points for a higher grade degree. In 2012, the degree interspersed can contribute a maximum of 4 points to the foundation application of the 1st year post. The number of points given is as follows: 4 for first class, 3 points for class 2.1, 2 points for class 2.2 and 1 point for third class.

src: c8.alamy.com

Medical student life

Most UK medical students come from medsocs, or groups formed in university student unions and run by and for medical students, usually organizing social events (such as Balls/formals), sporting events (eg, National Association of Medics' Sports Medical Association) (NAMS) and academic events or career events Four medical schools have separate student unions for medical students: Imperial College School of Medicine 'Union, Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh, UCL (RUMS: Royal Free, University College, and Middlesex Medical Students 'Society) & amp; Barts & Student Association London.

The British Medical Student Union (UKMSA) is a nationwide student-doctor collaboration that unites the medical community and its student members at UK universities. The current president (2017) is Andrew Cole, and vice president is Michael Grant.

Meducation is an online revision and learning tool that encourages social interaction among medical students around the world. It has 30,000 users.

The largest free publication in the UK for medical students is the award-winning Medical Student Papers. It is written and produced entirely by medical students and distributed in hard copy to five medical schools in London, and is available online to all.

Many students also focus on extracurricular academic activities, for example many British schools have their own student community dedicated to improving good health in the local area through various action and global projects, through campaigning and working abroad. Medsin is a student health network that is fully managed by students and is a member of the International Federation of Medical Associations in the United Kingdom. Other societies are dedicated to increasing awareness of careers in specialties such as operations and general practice.

There are numerous student awards available, varying in prestige, from local university awards to national awards. Considered the most prestigious award for medical students in the UK is the current Medical Student, organized by the Royal Society of Medicine and the Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is mostly because other universities do not have such an award, with normal national prizes named after experts in that field.

src: www.ox.ac.uk

See also

• Medical education in the United Kingdom
• List of medical schools in the United Kingdom
• United Hospitals - Hospitals and medical schools in London
• Royal College of General Practitioners
• Medsoc

src: www.bmj.com

References

Source of the article : Wikipedia